“Only You Remain,” the latest track from Baltimore’s Great American Canyon Band, is already a pretty cathartic song. Simple, repeated melodies, soaring harmonies, and an expansive folk-pop sonic palette makes the song sound like it was written and recorded atop a mountain, instantly evoking a mood of open air and gigantic vistas. Lyrically, it’s a pure and heartfelt ode to intimacy, a fundamental declaration of commitment in the face of struggle. But when it’s paired to this video, shot in Iceland by the clip’s DP and editor Shannon Palmer—and premiering exclusively at The A.V. Club—it becomes an almost triumphant celebration of finding someplace (or someone) all your own.
As the band’s Paul and Kris Masson wander the isolated and beautiful landscapes and stare out over the ocean swells, it’s hard not to imagine someone at the Icelandic tourism board kicking themselves for not using this as its 2017 recruitment ad. “This past June we traveled to Iceland in search of the Midnight Sun during the Summer Solstice,” the married couple told us. “We immersed ourselves in the countryside’s vacancy and our need for a chase. We were the only people on Earth during those everlasting days.” From this video, you could see how that wouldn’t feel like an exaggeration.
Only You Remain, the album of the same name as the single, is available now on Six Degrees Records.