William Beckett releases music video for “Benny & Joon”

William Beckett’s new music for the single “Benny & Joon” is premiering today on FUSE! Check out the video here and read all about it below.

From Fuse.tv:

“Benny & Joon” sees Beckett continuing on the trajectory he started with The Academy Is… while bringing in a new set of influences. There are shades of Tom Petty amidst the synth-powered melodies, and it seems as though Beckett’s solo album might be a perfect complement to Andrew McMahon’s recently released solo effort.

“I wrote ‘Benny & Joon’ in Nashville, TN during a rain storm,” Beckett explains. “I wanted to tell a story of two oddballs falling in love, accepting each other’s quirks and differences. That being said, I wanted to do something I haven’t done in a video before and turn things upside down. For instance, in the first scene of the video I’m in my underwear. And I’m not the only one. But things aren’t what they seem…this one is a real brain buster, folks.”

To promote the release, Beckett has spent the entire summer performing in the Acoustic Basement of the Vans Warped Tour, and he’s not done yet. He’ll head to Australia with Anberlin and The Maine next, and he says there will be even more to come in the near future: “It’s going to be a wild ride over the next year,” Beckett tells Fuse. “I’ll see you there.”

If you’re wondering what The Academy Is… might have sounded like if they had kept on going, look no further than Beckett’s refrain of, “We know who we are now, so just leave us alone” in the chorus of this track. And if you like what you hear, you can preorder Genuine & Counterfeit in Beckett’s webstore.