Music Video for If You Let Me Debuts; Inspired by Let the Right One In
Debi Moore
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Pretenders front-woman Chrissie Hynde has a new band — JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys — and the video for their first single, “If You Let Me”, was inspired by the critically acclaimed 2008 Swedish horror film Let The Right One In. Check it out, and let us know what you think.
The video also parallels Hynde’s relationship with folk rock poet and singer/songwriter JP Jones (the “JP” in the band’s name), who is quite a bit younger than she, much like Oskar and Eli in the film whereas she’s going to stay 12 forever and he’s eventually going to get too old to look after her.
IFC debuted the video today along with an interview with the couple, an excerpt of which is below:
The tale of JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys begins in familiar territory. A guy, a girl, a few drinks, lots of texting. But from there it departs into the stuff that only rock and roll legends are made of. Fifty-eight-year-old Chrissie Hynde, of the Pretenders, met Welsh musician JP Jones at a bar in London, and the joy in the chemistry they found was only dampened by the realization that the 30-some-year age difference (he’s in his 20’s) denied them the chance to start a family together.
Deep into middle age, she may be too old to start a family, but Chrissie is not a girl to be trifled with. In fact, she’s probably more badass then ever, easily launching into scathing X-rated rants about our depraved popular culture with a voracity usually reserved for the young and rebellious. JP, on the other hand, [seems to be] the calming influence in this pair. They talked about how they became each other’s muse and this new video “If You Let Me,” directed by Chris Marrs Piliero, from their album Fidelity. It was heavily inspired by the film “Let the Right One In,” but as you’ll see, that’s not the only thing you can read into it.
IFC: This video for “If You Let Me,” takes a lot from the genius film Let the Right One In, all snow and bloody kisses, down to the Rubik’s Cube…
CH: Yeah, JP and I just fell in love with that film and watched it quite a few times. When I like a film, or a book, I’ll read it or watch it over and over. So much goes into a film, and if it’s a worthy film, I enjoy studying them. In fact, I see a lot more films than anyone I’ve met in the film business. It’s like people who work in shoe stores probably listen to more records than I do; when you’re in it, you know… but it’s maddening to me that [in the US] it’s all Hollywood box office and 90% of it is unwatchable. My heart bleeds for children because the films they put out for them are disgusting.
But Let The Right One In is such a beautiful love story. I went with Nicolas Roeg, the director, and Miranda Richardson when it first came out. Then JP and I watched it, and I think we saw a kind of metaphor in our relationship. You know, the girl’s 12; she needs someone who can look after her, but as that person grows old, she’s going to have to replace him.
Hit the above IFC link to check out the rest of the interview, and pre-order your copy of JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys’ new album Fidelity (it hits stores August 24th) from the EvilShop below.
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