Love, BB Bring Vintage Jazz and Dark Humor Together on New Single "Idle Moments"

New York jazz outfit Love, BB are bringing old-school jazz into some interesting territory with their new single and accompanying music video, “Idle Moments.” Blending vintage influences, existential songwriting, and a little dark humor, the release feels like something pulled from a forgotten Hollywood film.

The track reimagines a jazz classic that member Leviton first discovered in high school. Years later, when Backman expressed interest in performing it, Leviton wrote original lyrics exploring loneliness, depression, emotional exhaustion, and the strange ways people spend their time doing absolutely nothing.

Featuring Matt Bauder on flute and recorded live to tape, “Idle Moments” trades the original's guitar-driven atmosphere for something more reminiscent of a smoky, late-night jazz club.

What we appreciate about Love, BB is their commitment to creating music that feels genuinely connected to another era without becoming a novelty act. There's something refreshing about musicians who understand that nostalgia works best when there's an actual story worth telling.

The accompanying music video takes things even further, introducing a darkly comedic crime story inspired by classic Hollywood heist films. Failed plans, questionable decisions, and unexpected betrayals unfold as familiar faces from the group's previous “Solitaire” video return in entirely different roles.

Following earlier singles “Solitaire” and “Those City Lights,” Love, BB continue building a creative identity that exists somewhere between traditional jazz and cinematic storytelling.

“Idle Moments” is a reminder that sometimes doing nothing can say more about the human experience than doing everything.

We caught up with Love, BB to discuss the inspiration behind their latest release, their fascination with vintage jazz, and the creative decisions behind their cinematic music videos. Check out our exclusive interview below.

“Idle Moments” takes a jazz classic and gives it an entirely new perspective through original lyrics. What was it about this particular composition that stayed with you for so many years, and how did you decide which story you wanted to tell through it?

If we're honest, probably the real reason Michael's listened to Grant Green's "Idle Moments" obsessively for thirty years is because, once, as a teenager, he slow-danced to that record with a girl he liked and never got over it.

The lyrics explore loneliness, depression, and the uncomfortable reality of having too much time alone with your thoughts. There's also a subtle sense of dark humor throughout. How important was it to balance those heavier emotions with something a little more playful?

Easiest to just answer with the Billy Wilder quote: "If you're going to tell the truth, be funny or they'll kill you."

Your music has this fascinating quality of sounding like it belongs to another era, almost like a forgotten jazz recording someone just rediscovered. What draws you to that particular period of music, and how do you keep those vintage influences from limiting your own creative identity?

If you have a language and voice that feels like "you", there's no reason to try out a different accent every day. Michael's an open fetishist, his brain is all about getting stuck on things. A lot of artists have subjects or stylistic things they're hung up on and can't move past. Even if they could move past it, they wouldn't want to.

The music video for “Idle Moments” takes a completely different approach to traditional performance visuals, leaning into old Hollywood crime films, double-crosses, and dark comedy. Where did the concept originate, and how much of the storyline was developed alongside the music itself?

Michael conceived of the video long after we recorded the song. Michael had recently rewatched King Creole, the Elvis movie, a full-out drama that spends half the time stretching to find story-relevant excuses for Elvis to sing and dance. Michael thought we could do the same thing, write a film noir story that served as an excuse to get Kitty Verte dancing.

With “Solitaire,” “Those City Lights,” and now “Idle Moments,” you're building a world around Love, BB that extends beyond the music. In an industry constantly chasing what's new, what motivates you to create something so deliberately timeless, and what do you hope listeners take away from the experience?

Maybe it's square to think this way, but it seems to me that if it just came into existence, it's new.