Best Ex, the indie-pop project from Mariel Loveland, recently released a new video for “Losing Streak,” a track off of “Good Girl,” her upcoming album from Iodine Recordings (https://lnk.to/bestex). Losing Streak is about doing the best you can with the cards you’ve been dealt, rather than trying to rewrite the hand. The video mirrors the song and was filmed in and around Hoboken, NJ, with Mariel dancing through the streets and sneaking onto the field of a local high school.
Loveland’s twin sister Tina, who was on maternity leave at the time, helped out with the shoot, battling the summer heat and unwieldy equipment.
“This video was truly DIY in every sense of the word,” recalls Mariel. “We were figuring it out as we went. I had no budget, and hadn’t yet built an arsenal of pro gear, but I did have a vision and loose storyboard. I enlisted my sister, who was on maternity leave and willing to work for some iced coffee and a protein bar, and we shot it in two days while her older kids were at school.”
Most of the footage was captured on a Canon R6 Mark II with a 35mm prime lens and Canon 24-105 lens.
“I didn’t have a true wide-angle lens at the time, so for wide shots we used an iPhone 16 Pro,” she shares, noting how Olivia Rodrigo’s iPhone music video inspired her to embrace the device.
“For editing, I mostly used CapCut,” she adds, having let her previous Adobe Premiere subscription expire. “I wanted it to have an organic ‘90s feel for the scenes to match the feeling of the guitars in the song, so I tested a lot of VHS emulators. Ultimately, I landed on the NTSC-RS, which you can download for free from GitHub. It’s honestly one of the most realistic emulators I have ever used – and I’ve used many!”
“Good Girl,” which is her sophomore album, will be released on November 6, 2026.
