Kevin Bronson on May 11th, 2022

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On his 2021 debut album “Inferno,” L.A. singer-songwriter John Errol wrapped up ’80-styled bluster and bathos and put a bow on it. The new single “Saturday Night,” his first release since that album, takes its cues from the New Romantics (it would pair well with much of L.A. quartet Dear Boy’s catalog) to spin a sleek tale of heartbreak.

The video, directed by Nora DeLigter and Faye Tsakas and featuring Errol with dancer Ryan Walker Page, is at once symbolic of an entanglement gone bad and reverent to a city that can swallow relationships whole.

“‘Saturday Night’ reconsiders a relationship in its aftermath, reckoning with mutual queer destruction and how it could have been unhealthy or even abusive,” Errol says of the self-produced single. “I think abuse in queer relationships tends to get overlooked, and in this song and video, I tried to stare it right in the face.

“Much of this song is limited to my specific experience, and the lyrics and video speak to my story if you choose to look for it. … Channeling darker subject matter in a sweet and simple pop vehicle allows for some interesting juxtaposition, a way to capture the slow and insidious nature of abuse.”

Errol calls the video “sensitive subject matter,” adding, “So much of it deals with memory and trauma, where the past and present collapse onto each other. The directors and I also wanted to pay tribute to the skyline of Los Angeles. It’s hard to find love here, and it’s just as easy to get consumed by the city itself. Ultimately, though, it was a way for me to process and portray our dance — to take the pain and fashion it into something beautiful.”

||| Watch: The video for “Saturday Night”

||| Previously: “Inferno,” “Knock Knock”