First Watch: Highly Suspect, 'Little One'

A broken heart can be enough to drive anyone completely mad. Just ask Highly Suspect frontman Johnny Stevens, who snaps his cap and trashes a thrift store after losing the love of his life in a new video for the song "Little One."

"Hey, little one," he sings while intermittently smashing everything in sight and screaming at customers. "I'm so scared of what this could have been. I know that today I lost my only friend."

The video, directed by Stevens and DJay Brawner, plays out like an '80s-themed cop drama, as bassist Rich Meyer and drummer Ryan Meyer, dressed as police officers, eventually drag Stevens away.

"Our videos try to capture emotion," Stevens tells NPR Music. "Standing in an empty room pretending to play instruments is something you'll never see us do. I grew up watching real music videos. Stories. 'Thriller' comes to mind. You already know we're a band. Why do you need to see a guitar?"

The video also features a cameo by Madison Parker, the actual woman Stevens sings about on "Little One." She appears near the end, behind the wheel of a car parked in front of the thrift store. Stevens tries to tell her he's sorry as the police wrestle him to the ground. (She's not impressed). "That was the last time I saw her," Stevens says. "The irony here is that the band pulls me away from love. It's very true to life."

"Little One" is from Highly Suspect's 2016 full-length The Boy Who Died Wolf.

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