Video: Jaws of Love, ‘5 Years’

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Jaws of Love

Songwriter Kelcey Ayer goes up and he goes down in the video for “5 Years,” the latest release from his solo project Jaws of Love. His adventures on the escalators of Los Angeles (20 different ones) make for an apt metaphor for the emotional challenges of recent times.

For Ayer, a longtime principal in Local Natives, the song is the first taste of Jaws of Love’s sophomore album, “Second Life,” out Nov. 11. Jaws of Love debuted five years ago this week with the album “Tasha Sits Close to the Piano,” and Ayer returned earlier this year with the EP “Patricia,” an homage to his late mother.

Like JoL’s previous work, “5 Years” is warm, pulsing downtempo pop, rhythmically complex and meticulously layered. Ayer worked with co-producer Danny Reisch (Sun June, Shearwater, Other Lives) on the record. “I really feel like I’ve tapped into something new and special for me, really tried to disregard genre and just embrace having fun, sonically at least,” Ayer says. “The material, though, is pretty heavy for sure.”

Ayer’s wife Mel filmed and co-directed the video for “5 Years,” which finds the songwriter finally escaping the escalators for a place that looks considerably more inviting.

Speaking of, Ayer brings Jaws of Love to a familiar haunt — the Silverlake Lounge, where Local Natives did their first residency in February 2009 — for a residency every Wednesday in October.

||| Watch: the video for “5 Years”

||| Live: Jaws of Love plays a Wednesday residency in October at the Silverlake Lounge. The shows — Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26 — are free.

||| Previously: “Patricia,” “M&M,” 2017 interview, “Tasha Sits Close to the Piano”