MOTHXR is the formerly anonymous, Brooklyn-based four-piece now well known to consist of Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley, bassist and producer Jimmy Giannopoulos of Lolawolf, keyboardist Darren Will, and guitarist Simon Oscroft.
While touring with The Neighborhood last month, the band members took it upon themselves to shoot videos for every single track on their debut album, Centerfold. Having introduced themselves with a strong 80s theme both musically (those synths!), in the Warriors-esque music video for “Touch,” and their Walkman-featuring artwork, MOTHXR presents the first in a series of on-the-road visuals. It’s laid back, low-key, and premiering on i-D. Shot in the Eurotunnel between England and France, we imagine the band just parked up its Tiger Tours van and set off for an adventure.
“Every take was unrehearsed, so it’s honest, at the very least,” says Penn of the video for “Easy,”which hit the top spot in the Billboard charts and was riding high for a good while on Hype Machine, too. “At best, I think we captured a little something. As a concept piece it’s also an opportunity to explore the album in another light — it’s a bit of a character arc, collectively, both my performance and the cinematography across the whole series.” As MOTHXR kicks off its US tour with Polica tonight, we hope that Lonely Boy and his pals make use of that €18.40 case of wine deal seen in the background.
MOTHXR’s Centerfold is out now on Kitsuné Records – XOXO