Indie folk singer-songwriter and Montrealer Leif Vollebekk wrote the chorus to “Transatlantic Flight” while listening to a whole lot of Rihanna and Leonard Cohen, and also whilst watching Richard Linklater movies, particularly Before Sunrise—which he namechecks (along with star Julie Delpy) in the song’s romantic lyrics.
This comes off New Ways, Vollebekk’s fourth record and the follow-up to 2017’s Polaris Prize finalist, Twin Solitude. “You look good when you’re tired / on a trans-Atlantic flight,” he croons on the sultry, slow-building track. In the video, he’s seen in dark silhouette against the gorgeous nighttime blues of a California beach.
Of the visual, Vollebekk shared, “I worked a bit on the record in Marin County and while I was there the cliffs by the ocean overlooked the bluest of blues. The same blue—no, an even richer blue—that I see when I hear ‘Transatlantic Flight.’ I told Kaveh (the video’s director) that I wanted to sing the song there and get it on film.
“The video is just one long take with the exception of one cut,” Vollebekk continues. “I asked to have it like that because I always liked how in Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise the takes are so long that your eyes have a chance to wander around and start seeing subtle things. Time itself is a character in his films.
“In the last sequence, while we were by the water, when I opened my eyes, I suddenly saw a pack of dogs with these neon collars, like the kind you’d see at a rave or dance party. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen—to see these neon-collared dogs with this epic sea as a backdrop, in the distance running towards me. Their owner, she was calling to them to come back, but they were headed straight for me. I laughed so hard. She was so kind and yelled to me, ‘I’m so sorry I hope they didn’t ruin your video!’ We just left the whole thing in.”
New Ways is out November 1st on Secret City Records. Watch the video for “Transatlantic Flight” and see upcoming tour dates below.
