Earlier this month, Dan Croll released the video for a single off his upcoming album Emerging Adulthood, which is set for a July 21st release. Filled with peppy drums, gentle falsetto, and nostalgic guitar strums, “Bad Boy” fits perfectly into the theme of the album’s name, capturing in lyric and tone a certain type of self-exploration that seems indispensable to growing up yet regrettable all the same.
Of the track, Croll told DIY Magazine, “Bad Boy is about that phase of teenage life where everyone either wanted a bad boy in their life or wanted to be the bad boy. I wanted to be the bad boy but failed miserably.”
The video seems to agree: it sets Croll, sporting a simple white t-shirt and hipster glasses, against an empty background, from which various props emerge as impromptu stage settings: first, neon lights blink and wind billows through his hair as he mimes riding on a motorcycle, then a leather jacket appears and he pulls a comb through greased hair as the lens bathes him in black and white. Eventually, the “bad boy” gimmicks turn sour, with Croll appearing restrained by handcuffs, and eventually he seems to find his place holding a guitar, as the camera pans out and the staged setting becomes more explicitly apparent. As the camera fades on Croll strumming away, art imitates life as we watch him, after trying on a series of personalities, finally find his place as a musician.
Right now, Croll is “emerging” into adulthood around the world: he’s be on tour through September, stopping at London’s Citadel festival on July 16th and arriving in New York to kick off his U.S. leg on September 7th.