Josh Ritter and friends’ knack for arts and crafts-inspired music videos first hit my radar with 2010’s marionette puppetry-starring clip for “The Curse,” helmed by touring drummer Liam Hurley. But today they’re taking this endearing form of audio-visual storytelling to another level: opening an Etsy shop to celebrate Ritter’s Bringing In the Darlings single, “Love Is Making Its Way Back Home,” complete with a new music video featuring 12,000 pieces of construction paper to animate the tune’s tale.
Given the “more autobiographical” subject matter Ritter has pivoted toward for catharsis, the DIY aesthetic here feels particularly appropriate: a homemade-feeling clip for an EP put to tape quickly in his adopted hometown of Brooklyn. Most importantly, this material feels remarkably inspired and bodes well for the forthcoming LP these cuts didn’t quite fit on. Keep Ritter company on a pensive, dreamlike drive through his imagination at night below: