This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Millie Bobby Brown And Los Feliz's Sowden House Star In The XX's New Music Video
There's a certain calm the orange glow of the L.A. sun washes over everything. It's the thing you think about when you move away. The openness, the sky, the pervasiveness of heat. It's hard not to imagine Los Angeles on a quiet July afternoon—the hills golden with dead grass, the fata morgana caused by the scorching pavement, the droning whirr of a ceiling fan—the way you dream about the laugh of a former lover even if they weren't always laughing.
It's the gentleness of this aching memory—the same gentle ache of teenage love—that The XX have captured in their music video for "I Dare You" (off their third album I See You), which was released Thursday.
The video, which stars Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown, begins on exactly one of those sun-soaked days in L.A. Brown is staring at the sky pretending to read a vision chart, and misses her school bus (a scene dripping with the colors of bougainvillea, rosebushes, and the terra cotta tiles of a Hacienda-style house's roof).
As swelling, atmospheric sounds begin to play, Brown returns home and overhears her older sister cancel some hooky plans with her boyfriend now that "the little monster missed her bus." Unwilling to be left out, Brown re-engineers the situation so that she'll be taken along. "Now you have to take me," she begins, threatening to tell mom otherwise. "Anyway, I dare you."
From here, we begin a journey around Los Angeles through the eyes of high school lovers. On view? The bizarre mix of L.A.'s architecture, front lawns exploding in bloom, and more than one instance of the Lloyd Wright family's residential designs. First is the Ennis Brown House, Frank Lloyd Wright's 1924 landmark standing in the Los Feliz hills. Then it's off to the Sowden Housethe 1926 masterpiece that was designed by Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son, and was rumored to be the site of the Black Dahlia murder.
"Yo, hello no," one of the teens begins upon arrival to the Sowden House, a nod to the Black Dahlia tale. "You know this place is haunted right? Like, for real haunted."
Sponsored message
"I dare you to follow me," his girlfriend says to him, as they all enter the house.
Alasdair McLellan directed the video, which also stars Paris Jackson (spot the Bad tattoo on her hand) and Ashton Sanders. Catch the entire video below, and enjoy all of Brown's performance as we await season 2 of Stranger Things. [h/t Curbed LA
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
