To any Allston/Boston local, the setting of The New Review’s new music video will be more than familiar. All seven members of the jazz funk band are set up in a cozy apartment, with shots switching between a beige living room with vintage curtains and a cramped basement with exposed pipe running across the ceiling.
The twist? The band is dressed up in cocktail attire and clinking champagne glasses, an appropriate accompaniment to their newest single, “Goodbye Parties”—a Motown thumper about the never-ending goodbyes that come along with working in a restaurant with constant staff turnover. Simple and unassuming, the video depicts the band playing the song’s uptempo verses in the living room and the slow, swinging choruses in a basement full of friends. It’s your classic house party, except with a horn section and the kind of fiery vocals (courtesy of Aubrey Haddard) that you won’t get from a Top 40 Spotify playlist.
Borne out of guitarist Jesse Baskin, The New Review began when Baskin was studying at Berklee College of Music. After a few member changes and the joining of Haddard as lead vocalist in 2014, The New Review became what it is today—with all members of the group contributing to Baskin’s songwriting and arrangements. They released a 10-track self-titled album in March 2015.
But as the video suggests, The New Review’s big, anthemic tunes are meant to be enjoyed live: “You can expect more energy and soul than you have ever felt before,” Baskin said. “You can also expect a lot of people squeezed into a tiny space.”
So, come see the band take it from the living room to the stage. The New Review will be playing at Brighton Music Hall with Con Brio on June 2; tickets are available here. Check out our exclusive premiere of their music video below, and stay tuned for their upcoming three-song EP—which will include “Goodbye Parties”—in the summer or early fall.