In between suiting up as Black Widow for Joss Whedon’s Marvel superhero extravaganza “The Avengers” and helping Matt Damon run a zoo, Scarlett Johansson somehow found the time to make her directorial debut with Nashville singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin’s video for “Hurry Hurry.”
A simple video reflecting the symphonic love song’s relaxing, low-key vibe, “Hurry Hurry” was shot in one take with Baylin taking a leisurely stroll across New York City’s Manhattan Bridge. Johansson and Baylin were childhood friends in New York.
“One of the greatest gifts of growing up with Jessie has been watching her develop as a musician,” Johansson said in a release. “This song has a dreamy Brian Wilson sort of feel; I wanted to build on that and allow the video to carry on dreamily and use the changing tone and Jessie’s expression to match the vibe of the melody.”
Jessie Baylin
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Produced by Kevin Augunas (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros), “Little Spark” is Baylin’s third full-length album. “I drew a lot from people like Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, the Brill Building writers,” explains Baylin. “But I didn’t want to make a retro, throwback kind of album. Nostalgia is fine, I have a definite fondness for that, but I didn’t want people to listen and think I was trying to recapture something from the past.”
The album features a host of legendary studio musicians, including Warren Zevon collaborator Waddy Wachtel, veteran drummer Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz on pedal steel, The Watson Twins on backup vocals and even Jimmie Haskell (who’s worked with everyone from Elvis Presley to Simon & Garfunkel).
“They became absorbed into my world to a degree I never expected,” she says. “In a lot of ways, I really had these guys live my life with me and I think that closeness is reflected in the music. There was a seamless feeling, like we’d grown up together – it was that tight.”
Here are Baylin’s West Coast tour dates:
1/25 – Seattle, WA – The Triple Door
1/26 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir
1/29 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
1/31 – Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour