PINEO & LOEB took a crack at reworking some serious tunes on their last album, Elevation, with some amazing results. In most cases they were already facing a where-do-we-go-from-here situation – trying to improve upon hits that arguably couldn’t be improved upon. Amidst the series of chart toppers to grace Elevation was the newer (though nearly a decade old) “The Suburbs,” Arcade Fire’s track from their 2010 album of the same name. Featuring Bowen, the track takes a backseat to some personalized nostalgia as the three explore old haunts while dropping Benjamins in their new video.
Rather than releasing the track in its entirety, PINEO & LOEB say they chose to focus in on Bowen’s verse in the middle of the song for maximum impact. It’s slimmed down to a scant lyric-packed minute.
Shot by Mitchell Paquette in the Annapolis Valley, the video makes nods to Arcade Fire’s “Rebellion” and “Gods Plan” by Drake: a combination of suburbia and community engagement.
“The videos sort of a celebration of our shared small town past and then the combining of tropes from hip hop and indie music videos into something unique and fun,” says Mitchell Pineo.
For added realism, PINEO & LOEB not only filmed outside of Pineo’s hometown, but also recruited both Paquette and Bowen who are both former classmates.
“That’s the cross section we wanted to explore. […] It’s filmed just outside of my hometown where I went to high school with Bowen,” says Pineo. “I performed an acoustic cover of the ‘Suburbs’ about a month after it originally came out in a high school talent show where Bowen also performed, he was in a metal band at the time. [Paquette] also went to high school with us, part of the reason we got him.”
Short and intense, the video gets the point quickly: there’s no stepping in that river twice.
Take a listen to the full album from PINEO & LOEB here.
Tour Dates:
06.27.19 – Calgary, AB @ HiFi Club
06.29.19 – Princeton, BC @ Curiosity Music Festival
07.01.19 – Invermere, BC @ Copper City Saloon
07.05.19 – Grand Falls, NL @ Kelly’s Pub
07.06.19 – Gander, NL @ Crossroads Music Festival
07.07.19 – St. John’s, NL @ The Martini Bar
07.13.19 – Charlottetown, PE @ Fishbones
07.19.19 – Moncton, NB @ Evolve Festival
07.26.19 – Fredericton, NB @ Future Forest
08.01.19 – Edmonton, AB @ Polar Park Brewery
08.03.19 – Jasper, AB @ 4 Peaks Nightclub
08.04.19 – Big River, SK @ Electric Sky Festival
08.23.19 – Antigonish, NS @ Nova Scotia Summer Fest