Watching Leon Bridges’ video for his track ‘Coming Home,’ you’d think, despite being released this month, it was compiled of lost footage from 1962. Black and white film with an ever so slight grainy fuzz, the video is laid over a whole host of nostalgic images. Reel recorders, record players, a barber shop, and a malt-doling diner all hearkening back to the era of Bridges’ inspirations. Sam, Otis, Bill, and Al (the kings of soul) are all echoed in Bridges’ dreamy tune. 

Directed by Chip Tompkins (with cinematography by Tanner Teaff), Bridges’ first music video perfectly embodies the Texas crooner’s artistic aims. 

‘Coming Home’ replicates sixties soul in a remarkable way, sounding like the elusive thirteenth track to Sam Cooke’s Twistin’ The Night Away yet still feeling miraculously fresh.Teaff and Tompkins combine retro visuals with modern effects in a way that echoes Bridges’ reproduction of the genre. It’s both effortlessly suave and wonderfully endearing, an ideal accompaniment to Bridges’ tune. 

His voice fits the song like a molasses-dipped glove, melting across the honeyed melody with exceptional ease. Bridges is smooth, slick, and daring in his revival of one of music’s defining genres. ‘Coming Home’ is a wonderfully modest first video, and we can’t wait to see where he goes from here.