Lauv Talks Regrettable Tattoos, Bad Dancing, And His Vibrant New Video

Getting matching tattoos with your significant other: pretty idea or surefire kiss of death? In the latest video from Lauv, for his aptly titled new single "Tattoos With each other he makes a case for both.


"To me, it wasn't a bad idea because it was such a special time in my life any time we were really happy with each other Lauv told MTV News about the idea for the song — which, yep, came immediately after he got matching ink with a now-ex-girlfriend. "I think everybody's different. And it's a really beautiful tattoo. It's not, like, names or something. I think names is where I draw the line."


On the upbeat hook, Lauv takes that no-regrets approach to life by proposing, "Let's get / Tattoos with each other / Something to remember / If it's way also soon / Fuck it, whichever That blissfully carefree sentiment comes to life in the accompanying visual, in which he dances around an eye catching neighborhood block where ferns are sold like narcotics and flash mobs are an everyday occurrence. He and director Declan Whitebloom scrapped a beginning idea for Lauv to get a tattoo with a fan, and settled on a more visually interesting concept inspired by the Hall & Oates dance sequence from 500 Days of Summer. In that dreamlike scene, Lauv mentioned, "everything sort of goes flawlessly for the main character," which mirrored his own headspace if he wrote "Tattoos With each other last year.


"At that time in my life, I was manic," he mentioned. "I was super, super, super, super unrealistically happy and impulsive because I had just gotten on my antidepressants and I was in a really big hole before that. I was super, super high and I didn't realize it at the time. I wanted the video to feel like you're so in love and it's so brilliant, and then had the idea to shatter it at the end with the cheating."


Indeed, right after dancing up a storm with his smiley neighbors, Lauv wanders back house, willing to recommend to the girl of his dreams. Although as soon as he gets down on one knee, he sees her in bed with another guy — which sets off a hilarious outro and blooper reel wherein Lauv cusses up a storm and freaks out about their matching tats by screaming that he "can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery" anymore.


"That scene was funny to shoot because I completely improv'ed it," he mentioned. "We had to do it so several times and the opening two times, I really felt in it. And then immediately after you're yelling, like, ten times, you sort of begin to feel bad and weird. Especially because, the girl in the video, I think it was her first music video ever, so I felt super bad screaming at her."


Impressively, the video was shot all in one take, though they ended up using the 15th run-through for the final version. Chalk that up to the choreography, which Lauv only learned the day before filming.


"I think it's the most [dancing] I've done," he mentioned. Yet I'm going to do a lot more in future videos. I have been learning about how to dance, which is really fun."


"Tattoos With each other is the latest taste of Lauv's upcoming debut album, ~how i'm feeling~, and it's not the only new song linked to a part of his growing number of body ink. He has 14 tattoos total (none he regrets), with the most recent being the phrase "Modern Loneliness" on his arm, in commemoration of one of his preference tracks off the album.


"It's this super, super meaningful song to me," he mentioned. "That one's basically about... I feel like these days, I'm so used to never being alone nevertheless feeling so alone. It's so easy to feel completely isolated even if there's people around you. I just think it's this condition that a lot of people in my generation feel."


We'll have to wait to hear that song up until ~how i'm feeling~ arrives on March 6, soon after a long and steady rise for Lauv. It's already been two years since he broke out with "I Like Me Better," and he's kept up a constant stream of singles ever since, including "I'm So Tired...," "Fuck, I'm Lonely," "Sims," "Mean It," and "Drugs & the Internet," all of which appear on the upcoming album.


"It feels very long overdue," he admitted about the assignments impending arrival. "I'm honestly nervous because there is a lot of different vibes on the album and then some of these I think are going to be way different than what people would expect. Nevertheless they're really essential parts of me as an artist, and I think it's the opening time that I'm really exploring every aspect of who I am and the sort of music I'd like to make."


And make no mistake: there's plenty more music (and plans for more tattoos) on the way.


"I'm honestly already working on my next project," Lauv mentioned. "I've just been in such a creative flow, so I'm really happy."