Constructed in the familiar style of Danial Johnston but not quite featuring the same level of mad innocence, the visuals in the video for “Hopeless Romantic” by Bobby Dove put a stamp on the narrative of the track itself that I would call quite revealing about the intentions of its composer. Eclectic in nature and suggestive of an unbound aesthetic that could be classified as folk, pop, alternative county and millennial cowpunk all at the same time, the Bobby Dove sound is in a league of its own, and it’s making waves in a big way thanks to this single and the album it shares a name with.
The music video for the title cut in Hopeless Romantic generally captures the theme of the tracklist in general; our star is always animated and colorful, while the instrumentation tends to be a bit more stoic and contrasting. The juxtaposition produces tremendous poetic depth in “Sometimes It’s a Lonely Road” and “El Hormiguero” while introducing a provocative edge to “Chance in Hell (ft. Jim Cuddy),” “Early Morning Funeral,” “Golden Years” and “Gas Station Blues” that most certainly wouldn’t have been present otherwise. I never get a sense that they’re drawing inspiration from anything other than their own lives; in all honesty, Dove portrays too personal a look in this material (and too convincing a performance thereof) for anything else to be the case.
Watch the video for “Hopeless Romantic”
I’d been hearing a lot of good things about Bobby Dove recently, and it makes sense why their work is getting the kind of recognition it is this season after hearing the complete Hopeless Romantic sessions for myself. Whether it’s the tender subtext of “Like It or Not I Love You” or the painful truths Dove doesn’t shy away from in “My World’s Getting Smaller,” this is a singer/songwriter I want to know more about (and I doubt I’m the only one).
