Video Premiere: Juniper, “Ride Between the Cars (am version)”
The New Jersey-based teen indie-pop artist has a new video to go along with a new version of a single from her sophomore album. Get an exclusive first look at the video here!
“Ride Between The Cars (am version)” video still.
As I write this, teen retro-pop singer Juniper is on campus enjoying all the disorienting wonders of her first semester of college. It must add an extra soupçon of strange to be a music artist with two albums under your belt, and a new music video about to come out! We’re honored to contribute to that magical weirdness with an exclusive premiere of the video for “Ride Between The Cars (am version).”
Juniper’s next single, an earworm of a break-up song “I Was Thinking About You,” comes out November 7. The B-side of that single is a reworking of “Ride Between The Cars,” a track from She Steals Candy. “This is one of my favorite songs we’ve ever done,” Juniper says. “I love a good narrative song, and I remember being really excited initially about the third-person storytelling.”
The new rendition featured in the video has a more laid-back loungey feel. Like the original, it’s less than 2 minutes long. (Shoutout to short songs, which I love and which feel fresh and retro at the same time—hearkening to the 1950s and before, while also catering to the TikTok generation!)
One of the creative driving forces behind this teen sensation is her producer/musician dad, songwriter and longtime WFMU DJ Michael Shelley. He explains how the new version of “Ride Between The Cars” came about: “Immediately after recording the basic tracks for what became the LP version, the band tried a take with an acoustic guitar with an interesting slow-train rhythm. We decided the electric approach was the way to go and forgot all about this version. Eventually, it was resurrected and finished off at the home studio.” Keyboards were added to give this acoustic take its retro-pop flair.
What hasn’t changed from the original version is the singer’s unique rootsy pop style, contemporary yet reverent to her vintage 60s and 70s influences. If anything, this new rendition enhances it. “The acoustic version of the song puts a nice emphasis on the lyrics and changes the tone of the story completely, from something more driving to something more contemplative,” Juniper says. “I love the way this version trails off, and I think the keyboards throughout make it an exciting and dynamic listen.”
Juniper. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Ride Between the Cars” features an unusual perspective: An omniscient narrator talking to the unworthy love interest of a girl trying to decide to leave them: “I think it's time you let her go / You just don't have what she needs … She's working up top secret plans to take a giant step / If she could just decide.”
The accompanying video is a fun, surreal combination of 1960s glamor, art-film oddness and stock-video green-screen footage. Oh, and a mime, because why not? (I’m most invested in the masked characters spliced throughout, some bikini-clad, some wielding guns, all giving big 1990s indie-movie energy.) While not literally tied to the lyrics, the video gives off the devil-may-care vibe that someone teetering on the edge of a breakup needs to finally make a clean break.
Watch “Ride Between The Cars (am version)”!
(Enter code adventuresinamericana for 20% off through Nov. 14!)
“Ride Between The Cars (am version)” Single Credits
Dave Amels - electric piano, Vox organ
Steve Goulding - drums
Juniper Shelley - vocals
Michael Shelley - bass, written & produced by
Keith Yaun - electric guitars
Label: Confidential Recordings
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee.
Carol Roth is the primary writer, social media manager, podcast producer and event-calendar updater for Adventures in Americana. By day she’s a marketing writer/brand strategist. In addition to playing guitar and songwriting, she writes self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley.
