The Rolling Stones Release Drunken ‘Scarlet’ Video Starring Paul Mescal

The Rolling Stones have released a booze-soaked music video for ‘Scarlet’, an until-recently unheard 1973 track featuring Jimmy Page.

The music video stars Normal People heartthrob Paul Mescal as a man who drowns his heartbreak over a woman named Scarlet inside a deserted luxury hotel.

At the beginning of the video, Mescal leans into the camera, his hair and tux disheveled. You can almost smell his whiskey breath as he slurs “I’m a little bit drunk, I’m very sorry, I love you.”

Mescal then starts blasting ‘Scarlet’, which has all the marks of The Stones’ golden age: raw-edged guitars, swaggering vocals and a bluesy solo. Hot Press writer Pat Carty called it a "gloriously raggedy yoke, a street corner mongrel of hazy and uncertain parentage."

Stripping to a tank top, Mescal dances around his suite and smokes in the bathroom before making his way to the hotel dining room, where he strikes a rakish pose with a white rose in his teeth.

The video is the result of a socially-distanced shoot at the 5-star Claridge’s Hotel in London. It was directed by ‘Us’, a duo whose real names are Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor.

‘Scarlet’ comes at a key moment for both Mescal and The Stones. Last week, the Irish actor earned his first Emmy nomination for his performance as Connell on the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel, Normal People.

The Stones are less than a month away from the reissue of their 1973 album Goats Head Soup. Included on the album are two more previously unreleased tracks: ‘All The Rage’ and 'Criss Cross', the latter of which Hot Press deemed "a fresh taste from an old recipe."

Goats Head Soup comes out on September 4. Check out Paul Mescal’s steamy performance in the ‘Scarlet’ music video on YouTube below.