'Youth' Music Video Review: Alec Lytle & Them Rounders go back to the innocence, sweet nostalgia of childhood
Northern California-based indie-folk band Alec Lytle & Them Rounders dropped their new single with accompanying music video 'Young' on April 1. The song will appear on their upcoming sophomore album 'The Remains of Sunday', with a scheduled released date of April 17 via CEN/The Orchard.
In the carefree new music video, directed by frontman Alec Lytle's wife Priscilla, we see two children getting ready for a fun day of innocent shenanigans before meeting up in the woods. The two (Lytle's son Isaac and his kindergarten friend, according to Elmore Magazine) play around in several locations, trekking through the woods and a sun-kissed field before reaching an isolated beach at the tail end of the charming video. For all those who grew up in homes surrounded by nature, the video comes as a sweet nostalgic reminder of the innocent days of youth during a time where we all feel a little trapped at home during the coronavirus quarantine.
"My biggest problem is I don't sleep like I used to anymore" opens Lytle on the vocals in a bittersweet bluesy cowboy folk tune of banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, amid snappy guitar and drum patterns and other uncommon instruments. Even some mallet percussion can be heard between the song's many instrumental layers.
Lytle explained the inspiration behind the new music video. “The story for this video started with several discussions my wife Priscilla and I had about the meaning of this song," he said, "We wanted to show that someone's true and honest soul can best be found in their youth. It is a hope that you can access that youthfulness with the people who are most important to you, that joy, that spontaneity, isolating the connection two people have to each other from the repressive and chaotic realities of the modern world."
Lytle continues, “I wrote ‘Young’ while my wife was pregnant with our second child, our daughter Cadence, who just turned 4. The song is a response to the realities I imagine women will face as they grow up in our world. It’s a hope that youth can prevail over the realities of modern life… that machine that devours innocence.”
The single 'Young' was written and recorded by Lytle at the iconic studio Sound City, which was even the subject of a 2013 Dave Grohl-directed documentary 'Sound City'. Lytle used a 1940s acoustic cowboy stencil guitar on the track and it was modified with a rubber bridge to produce a dead and non-sustaining sound.
Upcoming LP 'The Remains of Sunday' was produced by Tony Berg and mixed by the legendary Bob Clearmountain. Berg has produced for artists Michael Penn, Josh Radin and Blake Mills, and Bob Clearmountain has worked with artists Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie.
Alec Lytle & Them Rounders are rescheduling their spring dates to later in the year. Alec will perform songs from the album on Instagram Live on April 16 prior to the release day.