Breezy percussion and sparkling guitars surround Dean Wareham from the moment “That’s the Price of Loving Me” begins. His latest single, the title track from his forthcoming album for Carpark Records, is comfortable in its own momentum and direction, never veering too fay astray from the amiable atmosphere that he and producer Kramer have concocted. There’s a bittersweet echo to his memories here, to the recollections of years spent touring and the people inhabiting those endless days. It evokes a homespun simplicity, even as the track undermines our expectations of this slice-of-tour life vignette and suggests that the world is a far more complex creature than we might assume.
“‘That’s the Price of Loving Me’ is about our life on the road,” explains Wareham, “but also a dream I had about our tour manager and dear friend Kiko, who passed away a couple years ago; he drove us around Europe in his Mercedes Sprinter with red zebra upholstery.”
The accompanying video was directed by Matthew James-Wilson, who says: “Dean suggested filming himself doing activities common for a romantic date, but spent alone. We shot everything around Echo Park, capturing some landmarks of the neighborhood like Echo Park Lake Swan Boats and the iconic Patra Burger (which shut down a few days after filming).”
Watch the clip below.
That’s the Price of Loving Me is due out March 28 via Carpark Records. You can pre-order the album here. Follow Wareham on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
