GRAMMY-nominated producer and dance artist Alesso and Marshmello share the stripped version of their recent single “Chasing Stars” (a much-buzzed-about collaboration featuring GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter/guitarist James Bay).
Released via 10:22PM/Astralwerks, “Chasing Stars (Stripped) [feat. James Bay]” premieres alongside a video that reimagines the beautifully surreal, VHS-obsessed visual for the original version.
Built on a breathtakingly intimate performance from Bay, “Chasing Stars (Stripped)” marks a bold departure from the original track’s epic collision of driving beats, soaring synth lines, and heart-stopping drops. With Bay’s soulful vocals and impassioned guitar work serving as its sole instrumentation, the result is a raw yet captivating rendition that intensifies the track’s mood of tender nostalgia.
Directed by Jake Jelicich (Dua Lipa, Niall Horan), the video for “Chasing Stars (Stripped)” puts a brilliant spin on the original visual (available HERE). While the “Chasing Stars” video found Bay working the counter at a video store — and ultimately saw him transported into a mysterious alternate reality — the new visual places Bay in a wildly different but equally dreamlike setting.
To that end, the video unfolds as Bay strums his guitar and sings at the edge of the ocean shore, leaning against that same video-store counter and surrounded by a pair of shelves stacked high with VHS tapes.
With his feet submerged in the ocean, Bay delivers a quietly spellbinding performance touched by the sound of gently crashing waves. In a callback to the original, the video for “Chasing Stars (Stripped)” also features a number of cleverly stylized posters bearing images of Alesso and Marshmello.
Earlier this month, Alesso released a VIP mix of “Chasing Stars,” a high-powered version that lets his progressive-house sensibilities shine to full effect. The remix immediately earned acclaim from the likes of Dancing Astronaut, who praised Alesso for “driving the production towards the same nostalgically induced, charged-up sonics that he warmly welcomed through his prior pair of mixtapes.”
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