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Paper Pilots – “The Weather” (Self-Released)

Paper Pilots - "The Weather"
12 September 2016

Los Angeles-based alt-rock/power pop act Paper Pilots, helmed by Justin Bocchieri, has been flying ever higher since it gained notice in 2012 for its cover of The Zombies ’ “She’s Not There” on a soundtrack for HBO’s True Blood. Paper Pilots released its debut self-titled EP soon after and performed 3 of the EP’s songs in the Season 6 finale of True Blood.

A flood of radio airplay and live performances followed as Paper Pilots built up its material and fanbase. In 2014 the outfit dropped a couple of singles, “Free Ride” and “Arrow”, which had successful radio campaigns. Late last year Paper Pilots released the sweeping single “The Weather.”

The band is now poised to capitalize on the buzz from this trio of songs and take it even further by unveiling an accompanying video for “The Weather.” Aurally, Bocchieri and company merge bright Brit-pop melodies with a more reflective, piano-driven mood, crafting a catchy, cloudy-with-a-chance-of-sunshine tune.

Visually, the group captures the shadowy side of the song, unspooling a black ‘n’ white video that focuses on close-ups of Bocchieri’s face as he sings. At various moments, moving graphics are superimposed on his features while time-lapsed cloud formations scud by in the background. The stark and spare video was directed by Joel Knoernschild of the Emmy-nominated creative team VARMiNT Films.

“The Weather” was produced by Grammy-nominated engineer/producer Luke Tozour (Katy Perry, Adam Lambert, Jamie Cullum) and mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks (Coldplay, Elliott Smith, Paul McCartney). It opens with a steady rhythm of supple bass line, shaken percussion, and an up-tempo, but measured drum beat. Gleaming acoustic guitar strokes and delicately hopeful piano notes accompany Bocchieri’s light vocal tone. He swiftly switches to a more urgent demeanor as the song progresses, proclaiming with resolve, “I gotta move just as quick as the seasons.”, shining the spotlight on a tumultuous relationship.

Echoing the mercurial changes of the climate (and human connections), this brief bridge flows into a dreamier chorus section that expands with fluid guitar lines, rising synths notes, and a sharper edge of electric guitar. As Bocchieri reveals that, “The weather is to blame / There’s something in the air.”, he’s backed by a second layer of his vocals that sigh with lilting chagrin, “There’s somethin’ in the weather.” Based on this captivatingly changeable composition, it looks like nothing but blue skies ahead for Paper Pilots.

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