Premiere: The Fan Convey Wistful Exuberance In New Video For “Got It Wrong”
Living life with no regrets sounds cool and all, but let’s be real: it’s a fantasy, a buzzphrase for those struggling with the concept of maturing. The reality is far more complex, requiring a nuanced understanding of how each decision you’ve made over your life compounds into a mosaic of experiences, a rich and textured narrative built on orderly triumphs and irregular missteps. The best art indeed embraces those imperfections, but it’s also true that there lies a valley between happy accidents that enhance a masterpiece and lapses in judgment that create fractures in the canvas of our lives. Facing and examining those missteps — that’s where true growth comes from in life. It doesn’t mean never making a mistake again, but just comprehending those lows in life better so there are more highs ahead.
For The Fan, this sentiment not only guides their latest single, “Got It Wrong,” but also shapes the very essence of the musical journey on their debut EP, Nostalgia. The intrepid six-track record embraces the melodic power rock that surged decades ago while infusing it with a spirit weathered by all the twists and turns that followed as its electric essence waned. It’s a wistful exuberance — a chance not to relive the glory years, but to let them help ease the path forward. Looking back fondly so you can look forward more intently, a notion the band brings to life in the new video for “Got It Wrong,” which The Auricular is proud to premiere today with an exclusive stream below.
Nostalgic yet perceptive, “Got It Wrong” pays tribute to youthful idealism while contending with the paralyzing doubt of adulthood. As your own personal mosaic takes a firm shape, it becomes harder and harder to add to it. Do you make the safe choice and commit to how it looks now, even if the result is something you won’t recognize? Or do you try something new and fresh, not knowing if it will redefine the tessellated essence or just add another blemish to the etching? The song’s chorus zeroes in on this, grappling with the shades of right and wrong decisions that can blend into something inspiring, but also disheartening (“And I can’t decide\ If it’s beauty or decline\ When I think about my life\ Am I on the right path\ Or on one I don’t belong?“).
The video, directed by Benjamin Zimmerman, finds The Fan’s frontman Jim Ivins contending with this struggle in real time, exploring the reflection of autumn while performing with the vitality of spring. Scenes from his youth are dropped in showcasing the beginnings of his musical career, creating a visual representation of the intricate layers of the past and the uncertainties of the present. Luckily, the sound here is anything but uncertain, performed with confident vigor that makes you long for the time when the retro sound felt right and just.
The video also zeroes in on the nuanced struggle of complacency, offering a way to reclaim a comfort zone to drive your own advancement like The Fan does with their redolent sound. The lyrics grapple with this in the context of outside versus inside, which the video brings to life with early shots of the band performing in an empty house before stepping out into the world with a performance that gives them renewed vigor and inspiration. It’s a remarkable intersection of visuals and lyrics, portraying the delicate balance between embracing the known in order to venture into the unknown.
“Got It Wrong” is the second single to come from Nostalgia after the soaring track “Can’t Let Go” was released in July, which leaned into retro fun with a lyric video that borrowed from the iconography of MECC’s classic MS-DOS game The Oregon Trail. Earlier in the year, Jim Ivins released the breakneck alt-rock track “Illusion” as part of The Ivins, a song that also received an inspired madcap video. In the middle of all this musical output, Jim Ivins etched his name into history in 2023 by fronting the first rock band to ever play in Sudan this past spring as a part of the American Music Abroad program funded by the US Department of State. A productive and beneficial year to say the least, it shows how intent Ivins is on improving his own mosaic, with enough youthful courage to experiment and innovate, but with enough seasoned wisdom to know how to build on everything that’s come before it.
Nostalgia is out now on all streaming platforms.
You can catch The Fan in concert next on Tuesday, December 5th at The Camel supporting Heartracer for their album release show alongside WKNDR (click here for ticket information). To keep up-to-date on The Fan’s next performance or release, make sure to follow them on social media.
