When acclaimed Toronto rockers Our Lady Peace released the first half of their latest album, Somethingness, earlier this year, it was to even further fanfare than usual. Not only was it their first output in five good years, but the four songs present on the record represent a true return to the guitar-driven, anthemic rock-and-roll that they’ve been known and loved for since 1992.
“Nice to Meet You” rounds the EP out as its soaring closing track. Like those before it, it’s now been treated to a music video featuring renowned YouTuber Matthew Santoro as its lead character. This time around, we once again join Santoro during work hours as he commits to ride-sharing throughout nighttime city streets.
His next passenger is a young woman who’s been done some sort of wrong, and Santoro spends the drive acting as an empathetic shoulder to cry on and someone to get angry with. It’s a bit more open to interpretation than the videos that it succeeds since there are no lines spoken by the actors this go-around. The varied emotional states that the actors portray here effectively portrays the endless sides of the human spirit, and it’s a vital, captivating piece to behold.
The video is the newest installment in the band’s ongoing concept series of videos starring Santoro, wherein he plays an Uber driver acting as the audience for candid snapshots of his passengers’ lives. As has become commonplace in each of these videos, it’s just as poignant as the last. The underlying factor that strings them all together as a continuing story beyond Santoro’s involvement is the sheer humanity put on display in each video.
Our Lady Peace themselves may not show up in any of them, but they don’t need to. Their series maintains a raw emotional link throughout, weaving evocative vignettes for fans that are far more valuable than the typical music video aims to be.