Breakups are a bitch, which has always made them perfect fodder for songwriters. “Growing up, we quickly learn that the most important thing is finding ‘the one’—especially for girls,” says Sam Reichman, one-half of Brooklyn-based duo Man Lee. “That’s a lot of pressure, and we internalize it, along with everyone else’s expectations.”
Man Lee’s latest single, “Best One,” is the inevitable post-breakup pep talk most (if not all) of us have had to administer at some point. “It’s a reassurance to a friend on the receiving end of a terrible break—that they weren’t at fault, and nothing said or done differently could’ve changed the outcome,” says Reichman. “Because it wasn’t up to them at all.”
Reichman and Tim Lee collaborated intermittently while the two bounced between Richmond, Va., Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, but things really started to gel when they spent some extended time in New York. “Best One” was produced by Lora-Faye Åshuvud, the composer, singer and instrumentalist behind winsomely obscure experimental-pop project Arthur Moon. Åshuvud also produced Man Lee’s previous single, last month’s “Chicken,” and it turns out she’s the perfect match for the duo’s catchy, collage-like post-punk soundscapes.
The video for “Best One” presents its own striking collage, interspersing ’60s and ’70s archival clips with childhood photos, home videos and mementos, all neatly framed within the compartments of Dad’s trophy case.
“It’s a mixed media take on girlhood,” says Reichman. “That’s where these unshakable ideals and sense of self are so often formed, for better or worse.”
We’re proud to premiere Man Lee’s “Best One” video.
—Hobart Rowland
See Man Lee live.
