Country act Sugarland released their much-anticipated, and sixth, studio album on June 8. Bigger on Friday was followed up 24 hours later with the video for single Babe. The video features an appearance from Taylor Swift, who also co-wrote the song.
An early tease
The duo initially teased the video three days earlier during the CMT Music Awards with an exciting trailer. Wearing furs, and showing her jewels and blonde curls, Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles acts as a rich 1960s housewife in a love triangle with Swift and one-time Superman, Brandon Routh.
Routh plays the cheating husband who hides his philandering ways from his significant other, while Swift teases as the work colleague who spends time with Routh away from his wife. The video showcases numerous disguises and glamorous costumes, and Swift pays homage to Joan Holloway by wearing a red wig for her temptress role. Sugarland’s Kristian Bush even joins in on the fun by playing a nosey neighbor. After spending numerous nights on her own, Nettles’ character realizes that something is wrong and that her marriage is falling apart. When she eventually finds her husband and mistress together, she decides that she’s not going to take it anymore.
Back to her roots
The catchy song was written by Swift and Train’s Pat Monahan, making this the singer’s second country return after she became one of pop’s biggest stars. She wrote the Little Big Town track Better Man in 2017, which earned the band a Grammy award. Sugarland will be hoping that Babe will be every bit as successful.
Fashion comes and goes, but it seems retro never goes out of style. We all love looking back at previous decades. Even Selena Gomez is getting in on the act, donning a retro Jackie O-style bob in the music video for new single, Back to You. So the 60s certainly appear to be in vogue, at least in the music world. Music isn’t the only area of entertainment that offers us a glimpse into the past, however. Hollywood can’t seem to stop churning out remakes of movies and TV shows from yesteryear. We even see it in gaming, with old favorites such as Pac Man constantly being reinvented. Other games, like Hot Ink, while not strictly set in a particular period, offer a retro look. Hot Ink is available from Jackpot City in Canada where new players are welcomed with a $1,600 sign-up bonus. Fortunately, for the user, that’s in today’s prices, not the 60s.
Mad Men-style
Sugarland’s Bush told Entertainment Tonight that the video is more like a movie, albeit in the style of TV’s Mad Men. Nettles added that she thought the video was cinematic and that she views it as a period piece.
Swift, who also lends her vocals to the track, shows off a distinctive flame-haired style in the Anthony Mandler-directed video. The 28-year-old singer wears a bright pink sweater and skirt combination, with matching lipstick. Nettles dazzles with her retro hairdo, along with a bright yellow dress and pearl necklace. Routh looks dapper in a Don Draper-style suit.
