Last month, the Red Hot Chili Peppers announced their eleventh studio album, worrying those of us who have seen the iconic band turn into a pastiche version of their former ‘90s selves. But then it was revealed that the new record, titled The Getaway, had been produced by Danger Mouse and mixed by Radiohead producer, Nigel Goodrich, and so I acquiesced that it might actually be pretty cool.
And indeed, the new album’s first track, “Dark Necessities,†proved to be a contemporized take on the band’s patented funk punk. It’s a brooding, unconventionally piano-laden jam that’s still fun and funky in all the best Chili Peppers ways. Today the track got an equally fun, equally funky music video.
Olivia Wilde directed the new video, which features four female long boarders (Carmen Shafer, Amanda Caloia, Amanda Powell, and Noelle Mulligan—as Pitchfork notes) flipping skateboards through dark city streets and an empty reservoir. The action shots are interspersed between clips of the band playing inside a floral wallpapered house that’s as ‘70s as Joaquin Phoenix’s leisure suits in Inherent Vice—a decent reference point for all the wild things happening in this video.
Flea headbangs and slaps the bass in batshit crazy sequences that, at one point, show him chilling in a kitchen sink. A mustachied, topless, and sunglasses clad Anthony Kiedis dances and sings against puke green walls. Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer rips through Frusciante-esque riffs. And Will Ferrell (er, Chad Smith) drubs his kit with veteran hands, leading the track through a well-plotted arc that sounds great on these seasoned, somewhat jaded RHCP ears.
The Getaway is out June 17 via Warner Bros. Check out the video and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Image: Warner Bros
