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Ariel Pink and Jorge Elbrecht Meet Their Spirit Animal in ‘Hang on to Life’ Video

Ariel Pink Jorge Elbrecht 'Hang on to Life' Video Single

At the top of the month, we heard the first of two team-ups between Los Angeles weird-wave godhead Ariel Pink and New York art-rock brainiac Jorge Elbrecht. Released as a 7-inch on Mexican Summer, “Hang on to Life” offered a hazy, dazed dreamscape of summer-ready soft rock that soothed even though its lyrics spoe of regret: “You screwed the pooch now face it / The truth is in the sky / Intrusions of our youthful delusion rules our life.”

Now, thanks to directing team Alejandro Cardenas and Elbrecht himself, we’ve got a very fitting video to go with. In the clip, we see a fairly forelorn Pink smoking cigarettes and singing as his songwriting partner nods his head in solemn solidarity. The overlaid image of a Golden Retriever represents a distant happy memory, and Haunted Graffiti guitarist Tim Koh cameos as the buddy on the other end of the line at the song’s end, when a distorted caller lays out some serious relationship drama.