For the past few years, Orville Peck has graced our ears – and our screens – with a western drama that’s uniquely his. Not only do his impressive vocals and gauzy soundscapes – complete with mysterious electric and steel guitar – take the listener to a dreamy wonderland somewhere between the throwback sounds of pop music from days gone by and classic country from the likes of Patsy Cline, but the accompanying music videos – and his identity always hidden by his signature mask – have created a universe and perpetuated an aesthetic that has broken into the mainstream. Western fringe and cowboy hats seem to be everywhere these days, and while this millennium’s “yeehaw” culture was certainly brought to the masses by Lil Nas X, Orville Peck has carried it on with leather, rhinestones, and chaps – and a dramatic, distinctly countrypolitan sound.
His videos seem to transport us into a fever dream, each one a unique world all its own, but still grounded firmly in our familiar reality, and floating along the airwaves of the now-familiar, surreal world of Orville Peck. From a hazy daydream at the Chicken Ranch brothel in Reno, to chilly, isolating mountain landscapes, blossoming hope despite the consuming grasp of nostalgia, and the Daytona sands, here are five of our favorite examples that construct Orville Peck’s cinematic universe, in both song and scene:
“Dead of Night” (Pony)
“No Glory in the West” (Show Pony)
“Summertime” (Show Pony)
“The Curse of the Blackened Eye” (Bronco)
“Daytona Sand” (Bronco)
BONUS: “Legends Never Die” with Shania Twain (Show Pony)
Listen to our Essential Orville Peck playlist celebrating our Artist of the Month here.
