The Hives New Video: Regal Chaos and Rock Immortality in Stockholm

August 14, 2025 rocknews

In an era where rock bands either fade quietly or cling desperately to relevance, The Hives have chosen a third path: full-blown resurrection. Their latest release, The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives, isn’t just a song — it’s a statement, a spectacle, and potentially the most ambitious chapter in their chaotic legacy. Directed by Filip Nilsson and produced by Pine, The Hives new video is a surrealist fever dream set against the grandeur of Stockholm’s City Hall, the very venue where Nobel Prizes are handed out. But instead of laureates, we get punk royalty in robes, crowns, and prosthetic wrinkles.

The video opens with the band gliding across the water in a boat, styled as elder statesmen of rock — a twisted parody of legacy and longevity. It’s theatrical, absurd, and unmistakably Hives. The regal imagery is quickly undercut by grotesque transformations, rolling heads, and a descent into punk-fueled madness. It’s as if Monty Python crashed a royal procession and brought a chainsaw.

Behind the Scenes of The Hives New Video

The production scale is staggering. Cinematographer Jallo Faber captures the chaos with cinematic precision, while Trinity rig shots inject kinetic energy into the slow-burning spectacle. The color grading by Simon Bourne (Company 3) bathes the scenes in a palette of regal decay — golds, reds, and bruised purples that echo the band’s twisted coronation.

Henrik Svensson’s production design turns Stockholm’s most sacred hall into a punk palace, with props crafted by Sara Kander and David Wätte that feel ripped from a dystopian opera. The SFX makeup team, led by Wilma Stigson, transforms the band into decaying rock monarchs, their faces sagging with exaggerated age and grandeur. It’s grotesque, hilarious, and weirdly poignant.

Even the marine coordination is on point — Jocke Fors and his team from Ocean Film choreograph the boat scenes with eerie calm, setting the stage for the chaos to come. The Hives new video spares no detail, from velvet robes to rolling heads, and it all serves one purpose: to declare, loudly and theatrically, that The Hives are not done. Not even close.

Sound and Fury: What Powers The Hives New Video

Musically, The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives marks a subtle shift. While the lyrics remain gloriously unfiltered — opening with the line “Everyone’s a little fucking bitch, and I’m getting sick and tired of it” — the tempo is slowed down, trading their usual breakneck pace for something more deliberate. It’s still unmistakably Hives, but with the swagger of a band staring down their own mythology.

Produced by Mike D (Beastie Boys) and Pelle Gunnerfeldt (Viagra Boys), with input from Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), the track feels heavier, more ceremonial. It’s not a sprint — it’s a march. And that shift adds weight to every riff, every shout, every sneer.

The Hives New Video and the Punk Philosophy of Time

Frontman Pelle Almqvist has called the lyrics “as close to political commentary as you’re gonna get,” but the real message is existential. This is a band grappling with time, legacy, and the absurdity of rock immortality. By styling themselves as elder statesmen, only to decapitate and resurrect themselves, The Hives mock the very idea of aging gracefully.

It’s a punk philosophy wrapped in royal robes: defy time, defy expectation, and do it with theatrical flair. The Hives new video doesn’t just entertain — it provokes. It asks what it means to be a band in 2025, and whether survival is enough, or if reinvention is the only way forward.

The Hives New Video Sets the Stage for Their Greatest Album Yet

The Hives haven’t returned — they’ve simply escalated. The Hives new video isn’t a reintroduction, it’s a reminder: this band never left, and they’re still operating at full creative tilt. With a visual that blends punk absurdity and cinematic ambition, and a track that dares to slow down without losing bite, The Hives are pushing their own mythology into new territory.

If this is the opening salvo, the full album — out August 29 via PIAS — can’t come soon enough. Rock News will be front row for whatever chaos comes next.