The xx pulled out all the stops for their new music video for ‘I Dare You,’ the second official video to accompany their third studio album, I See You.
The indie trio, who hail from London, wanted to celebrate the city of Los Angeles in this video, a city they deem “close to [their] hearts.” In doing so, they recruited the likes of cult favorite actress Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven in Stranger Things) and Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson. Additional actors include Moonlight star Ashton Sanders, and models Lulu and Ernesto Cervantes, who plays Millie’s school-skipping older sister and her lover, respectively.
The video begins with Brown’s character missing her bus to school and her subsequent adventures with her older sister and her lover, intercut with The xx’s own Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft solo crooning shots. Jackson and Sanders play a pair of lovers on their own adventure, when the two storylines eventually converge.
The band’s reverence for Los Angeles is apparent in the cinematography. Shots of the LA skyline and its landmarks transport the viewer on the adventure alongside the characters.
The video was directed by famed fashion photographer Alasdair McLellan, known in the music sphere for capturing Adele’s portrait for her 25 album cover, with additional creative direction by former Dior creative director and current Calvin Klein creative director Raf Simons. Notice Paris Jackson jumping around in her Calvins.
I See You was released in January 2017 to widespread critical acclaim.
