Watch Xenia Rubinos’ "Lonely Lover" Video
Xenia Rubinos is a Brooklyn-based keyboardist and vocalist. Her new album, Black Terry Cat, will be out on June 3 via Anti. The first track from the album, “Lonely Lover,” now has a video. Directed by Francesco Lettieri, it’s shot in Naples and features weight lifters, people making out, and bike tricks. Watch below. Below, you can also find her upcoming tour dates with Son Lux.
Rubinos shared this statement about the video:
Smack dab in the middle of my coast to coast tour all over the US, i hopped on a plane to Italy where in a whirlwind 72 hours we shot the video for “Lonely Lover” in the magic volcanic city of Napoli with Director Francesco Lettieri. The aesthetic behind my new album is rough elegance, I wanted this video to exude that through photography that contrasts decadence, street culture and elegance. Napoli was the perfect location to get the kind of photography we were imagining. It’s one of the most ancient cities in all of Europe, situated on this beautiful bay under the Mt. Vesuvius volcano which is still active and could erupt at any moment. The city feels electric, it’s hard to describe but I think it has to do with the ancient history and culture and the fact that all these people are living under an active volcano. The city itself oozes that rough elegance I’m talking about. People hang their laundry out to dry right above a theater with ancient greek walls, in America that place would be marked off and have a souvenir shop, but people there live inside that history every day.
It makes it more alive I think. All the graffiti you see is like, “Paola ti amo!”, even the gangsters are hopeless romantics. We filmed in this gorgeous abandoned church that was completely looted. The city is full of these hidden wild spaces, brimming with magic. “Lonely Lover” is this mami who’s just down on her luck, she’s just about had it, has no fucks left to give, but calm in the face of everything falling apart around her. My favorite scenes to shoot were the biker jumping over my head and also the ending scene because I’ve never driven a boat before and I used to get seasick. It was super thrilling and scary! Also to file under things i never thought would happen: getting my baby hairs styled and braided in Napoli!
The scene with the young lovers was shot in this abandoned ancient monastery where the set designers built out a whole bedroom, if you look closely you’ll notice the wall art behind their bed is a black madonna with child. I was kind of obsessed with the black madonnas at a certain point while making this album so it was cool to sneak that image in there. One guilty pleasure on the shoot, was getting to lounge on a crossfit athletes’ back singing while he does pushups. I thought this might be the epitome of that no fucks given type of attitude I’m trying to get at. The day after the shoot, I flew back to nyc and got right in the tour van that night, driving to a show. The next morning it felt like none of that had ever happened, I dreamt it, except now I have this video to prove it.
Xenia Rubinos:
05-18 Madison, WI - Majestic Live *
05-19 Chicago, IL - Constellation *
05-20 Columbus, OH - The Basement *
05-23 Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5 *
05-24 Nashville, TN – Exit In *
05-25 Chattanooga, TN – Revelry Room *
05-27 Asheville, NC – The Mothlight *
05-28 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter *
06-15 Philadelphia, PA – The Kimmel Center
07-08 Trenčín, Slovakia – Pohoda Festival
* with Son Lux
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