As we approach the end of the week, Doug Paisley offers some easy-going hook-laden vibes with his new single, “Sometimes It’s So Easy“, from his upcoming album Say What You Like, out March 17th. In the accompanying music video, directed by Colin Medley, he demonstrates that he still has those no-hands bike skills of his youth.
Paisley wastes no time with a one-minute lead-in, jumping straight into the opening lyric from the first beat – “Sometimes it’s so easy to move on / Not caring where you’re going / Without a thought to loved ones past and gone / And no way of knowing”.
Talking about the song, Paisley says, “Sometimes emotional survival and self-preservation require that we find the ruthless and the blithe within ourselves. ” Despite the weight of that thought, this is an upbeat number that hooks you in and makes you wish you were out on the open road. Producer Afie Jurvanen, perhaps best known as recording artist BAHAMAS, is praised for his work on this song and the rest of the album, which unfolds in a similar vibe to this song.
According to the video director, Colin Medley, Doug told him, “when he was a teenager he once biked from Mount Pleasant Cemetery all the way to the waterfront with no hands.” “I’m not sure I fully believed him,” says Medley, “but when we showed up on the Toronto Islands to film this video, not only could he still effortlessly bike without touching his handlebars, he could do so while singing and playing guitar for take after take. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.” With few and far between cut-away shots, the entire film follows Paisley on his bike—guitar in hands—picking and singing “Sometimes It’s So Easy.”
In retrospect, Paisley says, “I risked my body and my 1950 Gibson guitar for the stunt and in hindsight, I guess it lines up with some of the recklessness in the song itself.”
Due out on March 17th, Say What You Like is Paisley’s first release since 2018’s Starter Home.
Pre-order/pre-save the album here: https://ffm.to/saywhatyoulike