He makes jazzy retro-tinted pop, but in his new music video, aron! goes bubblegum. OK, technically, he just chews the stuff.
Out now, “Shiny Stockings” is the latest installment in aron!’s monthly singles series. The track maintains the young guitarist and singer-songwriter’s knack for what he calls “cozy pop,” bringing old-school jazz elements into the realm of modern pop songcraft. The lyrics are inspired by a wardrobe element that caught aron!’s eye: “Shiny stockings, rocking icy blue/ I love the way they stick to you,” he sings. “And if I’m lucky, maybe I can too.”
In the “Shiny Stockings” video, directed by Alexa Cha, aron! wanders into a used bookstore, where he’s chided by the proprietor, then has an unexpected romantic encounter. In keeping with the song’s vintage vibes, aron! and his love interest share ear buds connected to a portable CD and chew bits of gum torn from a spool of tape.
“Shiny Stockings” follows previous monthly single drops including May’s Mei Semones duet “Macramé,” April’s “Foolsong,” and March’s “Wonderful Thing.” The latter track earned attention from John Mayer, who spun it on his SiriusXM channel, noting, “It’s just nice to hear music performed by a guy who knows a lot of chords but also knows how to use them in a tune.”
A Charlotte native, aron! was raised on classic rock (via Guitar Hero and his parents’ music collection) and studied classical composition at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He made his debut on Verve last year with the EP Cozy You (And Other Nice Songs) and is continuing to develop his self-proclaimed “singer-songwriter jazz” sound as he builds toward the release of his debut full-length later this year.
“I’ve always resonated with the real old-school romantics,” aron! says. “People are going through the same things now as they were back then. Heartbreak is heartbreak, and love is love. We’re all humans, and that’s what most of these songs are about.”