In some respects, the beautiful scenery of Norway is as much a star of the music video for The High Plains Drifters’ new single “The One That Got Away” as the lovely Julie Louise Bjelke is. The open, inviting imagery of the country at its most rural and urban the same is the perfect backdrop to this song about short-lived love between traveling souls, but it never steals any of the proper spotlight away from the track itself. The High Plains Drifters seek to blend the austere with the optimistic in this piece, and to me, they did so rather epically in “The One That Got Away.”
It’s hard to listen to this single without thinking of the neo-gothic tones of the modern post-punk movement, but I wouldn’t say that the melodies are shrouded in darkness exclusively. On the contrary, I detect more of a Britpop-style bend to the surreal parts in “The One That Got Away” than I do anything of the proto-emo strain, and it’s this element of the song that really influences the way we interpret the vocal and its verses.
Watch the video for “The One That Got Away” by The High Plains Drifters below
The romanticism in this piece becomes hard to ignore, and by the time we conclude with the music, it is debatable how much of the track is an elegy rather than a celebration of a long-lost love.
I just saw the video for this single for the first time after getting introduced to The High Plains Drifters recently, but it’s already quite obvious that the band is holding onto something very unique and expressive in this release unlike what a lot of their rivals have been producing this year. A brooding delight for the ears, “The One That Got Away” is a slice of honest depression that just might inspire some to look ahead to the future for the next amazing adventure that might come their way.