Finneas and Claudia Sulewski on romantic snaps and their new Mona Lisa-inspired music video

There are all these very charming romantic clichés that seem to fit this energy – you two running along the beach, or kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower…

Finneas: The song is entirely autobiographical. Sometimes I make it a point to write songs that aren’t true, but with this one I was like, I’m just gonna write a song where every detail is something that actually happened, even until ‘in the name of the bar we went to on our first date. I’ve done a lot of videos that I’m really proud of so far, but they’re often a bit more theatrical or in a performance setting, where I’m running, dancing, and wearing interesting clothes. With such a truthful and intimate song, I think that juxtaposition would have been odd. There was almost nothing more song specific than having Claudia – who is already something of a documentarian in our lives – doing it. I love his eye and his editing, and of course, I love him. For me, you have to collaborate with people if you are able to trust them. And in all confidence, I only made one suggestion, which was ignored.

Sulewski: [Laughs.] Wait, what was that? I do not remember.

Finneas: I think I said that because it’s our first date, and there’s footage from shortly after we met, like Claudia is filming all the time, maybe- could we use some of it? But I’m grateful that she didn’t want to, Oh, I have to accept his stupid idea. I feel like I’m always trying to find people who will have a better idea than me, and Claudia definitely does.

How much planning went into the video and how much was spontaneous?

Sulewski: We just winged it, which is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the sense that it gives you flexibility. I think one of the shots I like the most is just the montage of us changing positions in bed. The bed had a frame, so I was able to attach the camera with a bathrobe belt and mount it right above us. So the blessing is having that flexibility, and knowing, okay, a lot of that imagery is going to be fragile, a lot of it is going to be moving, but embracing that feeling of chaos. And the curse is that once you get into your edit hole, you’re like, Is this really the only photo we have had of the Mona Lisa? So you kind of have to sacrifice or settle for what you have, like, It’s what I have to work with, so how can I make it the best it can be?