The Rover is an enigmatic figure who carries the qualities of a cult leader, a character played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Girls, The Punisher) in the new, faux documentary style music video for the new single by Interpol.
The video was shot on-location in Mexico City in June during the band's new album announcement and livestream, directed by Gerardo Naranjo (Narcos, The Bridge). The character's appearance was a mystery for both the press and fans back then, but the creative vision behind the concept of The Rover comes to full fruition with the video's unveiling.
"I like to describe the video for The Rover as a prequel," says Paul Banks, and further explains: "It’s the origin story of the character described in the song, the birth of a cult leader. When we meet him he is partly unhinged. He’s a man on the verge, an artist subjected to great pressures, and beset with existential frustrations. A distracted hipster who enjoys psychedelics, let’s say.
"The events that take place in Mexico City, be it a bump on the head, a visit to a shaman, or the influence of his rescuers (the street gang known as Los Locos) trigger the birth – the eruption – of this new figure, The Rover. His rescuers become his first followers.
"In the end of the video he exacts his ‘revenge’ on Interpol with a mischievous act of disruption during the press conference. He grabs me by the head – to save me? Forgive me? Or simply as a gesture of his new independence – the butterfly becoming."
Interpol's new album, Marauder, is due out August 24th, 2018 on Matador Records, and it finds the band working with producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Sleater-Kinney, MGMT) for the first time. The rocking energy of The Rover verifies the band being in currently in great shape, six albums and twenty years into their career.
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