Remake of M5's 'If I Never See Your Face Again' will appear on re-releases of both artists' latest albums.
Another day, another big-name artist gearing up to promote an album re-release with a big, shiny music video. Only this time it's different: It's two big-name artists. At the same time.
On Wednesday, Maroon 5 and Rihanna joined forces on a Los Angeles soundstage to film a video for a remake of "If I Never See Your Face Again" — originally the lead track on M5's 2007 effort, It Won't Be Soon Before Long — which will appear on reissues of both artists' albums.
"We're both re-releasing our albums — mine's out June 17," Rihanna told MTV News. "This is the only collaboration on my re-release, because I always wanted to work with Maroon 5. They're one of my favorite bands. When they called me to do this record with them, I was so honored."
"The song was basically done, but we wanted to try something different, so we had her come in and do bits and pieces," Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine added. "It came together so quick. The only other collaboration I had done before was with Kanye, and it was the same way. It sounds cheesy, but if the magic is there, if the chemistry is there, you don't even have to think about it."
A spokesperson for Rihanna's label, Island Def Jam, confirmed that the reissue of her Good Girl Gone Bad album will hit stores June 17. A rep for Maroon 5's label, A&M/Octone, couldn't be reached by press time.
So what about that video? Well, it's directed by Anthony Mandler, who has helmed clips for everyone from Snoop Dogg to the Spice Girls, and from what we could gather — and from what Rih Rih and Levine were wearing when we caught up with them on the set — the whole thing is a fairly glam affair.
"It's this kind of ultra-glamorous, photography-based, late-'70s/ early-'80s situation. It's really stylish and really beautiful," Levine said. "It's the most choreographed thing I've ever done, because usually I just get up there and screw around. But with Rihanna, it's completely different and so cool."
"I don't do a lot of videos where I have so much chemistry with the other artist, and this is only my second duet in a video," Rihanna added. "It's really intense, because you have to work with each other so much. It's new for me, but I'm enjoying it."
While the dynamic duo look forward to working together again in the future, Levine seems like he'd like the collaboration to be somewhat different — like, perhaps, a "Project Runway"-style partnership.
"I've been doing her styling lately, especially for this video," he laughed. "That's my other passion: styling."
Source: MTV News
Way to ruin such a great song.
