For Ryan Amador , love doesn’t need to be everlasting in order to be celebrated.
The indie singer-songwriter said he drew on memories of a weeklong summer romance for his new video, “Loverboy,” which shows him canoodling with a mysterious man (played by director Jesse Scott Egan) in a moonlit park and in a bedroom.
“You make me feel safe, you make me feel loved even though you’re trying to be tougher than you are,” Amador sings to a 1980s-influenced synthesized beat. “You’re such a loverboy, and I can see it in your eyes.”
Amador, who is based in Los Angeles, has emphasized LGBTQ themes in his art before. His 2013 video “Define Me” showed him and singer-actress Jo Lampert stripping down to their underwear to reveal homophobic epithets written across their bodies in black ink.
He told HuffPost that “Loverboy,” while less overtly political, was intended to “simply celebrate” the sensuality of two men kissing. Visually, he looked to the Oscar-winning film “Call Me by Your Name” for inspiration.
“I’ve spent a lot of time being a queer activist, but when it comes time to hold a guy’s hand in public or talk to my parents about the guys I’m dating, I find that I’m nervous,” Amador said. “So, in some ways, this video acts as a second coming out for me, to express what it feels like when two men court one another.”
He continued, “I’m actually pretty scared to show it to my parents, but I think they’ll love it in the end.”
Released Friday, “Loverboy” is the second single from Amador’s forthcoming album, “The American.” Slated to drop this fall, “The American” is the singer’s most ambitious musical project to date, with songs recorded with local musicians and producers across 10 U.S. cities.
Proceeds from the sales of “Loverboy” will benefit Basic Rights Oregon, a Portland-based LGBTQ advocacy group.