Rachel Cousins lures us in for a Wes Anderson-inspired music video, only to let us know she’s not all that interested in having company – which might be the most awkwardly appropriate Wes Anderson trope of all. Check out Rose Cousin’s new video for “The Benefits of Being Alone”.
The track comes from JUNO Award winner Rose Cousins’ upcoming album, Bravado. Apparently full of contradictions that plays into the complexities and moral ambiguity of existence, the album asks us just to straight up lean into it.
Bravado’s first single, “The Benefits Of Being Alone”, gets a pastel-coloured video co-directed by Shehab Illyas and Cousins with illustrator Hannah Emmett that marries Anderson’s colour palette to a mix of Oren Lavie and OK Go.
“I saw the whole video play in my head shortly after we finished recording the song,” says Cousins. “I imagined a Wes Anderson type scene, contrived and idyllic, with many hands helping to hold the whole thing together. This video, song and my new record, Bravado, are about juxtaposition. What version of what story is true?”
Curiously enough, the video does not contain anyone dancing in slow motion, Willem Dafoe, or even a soundtrack featuring The Kinks. The video does, however, contain cameos from several East Coast artists, including Fortunate Ones, Tim Baker, Don Brownrigg, Charlotte Cornfield, Villages and Jenn Grant – notably all making their appearances strictly in vinyl form. It almost amounts to Anderson-style kitsch, but without the classic Barrington portable record player it loses some of it’s oomph.
“The Benefits of Being Alone” finds it strengths in… advocating that you discover your own strengths. After all, it is 2019 and Emma Watson just re-defined being single as “self-partnered.” It’s a life lesson, now with a catchy tune.
Bravado is set for release on February 21, 2020 via Outside Music.
Tour Dates:
11.08.19 – Truro, NS – The First United Church For NSMW
11.09.19 – Boothbay Harbour, ME – The Opera House *
11.10.19 – Montreal, QC – Cafe Campus *
11.12.19 – Troy, NY – Troy Savings Bank MusicHall *
03.05.20 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall ^
03.06.20 – Ottawa, ON – NAC Babs Asper Theatre ^
03.19.20 – Halifax, NS – Rebecca Cohn Auditorium ^
03.20.20 – Fredericton, NB – Wilmot United Church ^
03.21.20 – Charlottetown, PEI – Confederation Centre of the Arts ^
* with Patty Griffin
^ with John Paul White