Scratch that new crossover, Volvo teases ad campaign for XC60

Sun, 26 May 2013

If we were to paraphrase the opening lines of Kenneth Graeme's Wind in the Willows for our own purposes, we'd write, "Have you heard about Volvo? They never planned a new crossover at all. It was all a horrid low trick of theirs...." To be fair, though, we can't blame them for our own presumption. When the Swedish car company created a site called LeaveTheWorldBehind.com and teased a couple of videos for some kind of collaboration with Swedish House Mafia, we thought the crossover in one of the teasers pointed to a new vehicle on the way.

Turns out that's not the case. It really is 'just' a collaboration with the band on a music video for Swedish artist Lune's cover of their 2009 song, Leave the World Behind.

But there are Volvos in it, and you can watch it below and hear original song alongside. We've also included the press release with more details on why it all came together, and a behind-the-scenes video on the collabo. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "That's all we have to say about that."

Behind the Scenes with Swedish House Mafia members

2013 May 22: This week, the members of Swedish House Mafia unleashed a new version of their hit song "Leave the World Behind" featuring the young Swedish singer Lune. Swedish House Mafia created their new music video in collaboration with Volvo Cars in Scandinavia and the song and video will be the leading theme in Volvo's forth coming global launch campaign of the new Volvo XC60.

"All Volvo's XC cars are designed around people's wish to get out there and to leave your everyday life behind for a while. So we thought that the members of Swedish House Mafia were the obvious choice," said Per Carleö, Marketing Manager at Volvo Cars.

Volvo XC cars are designed to bring you out of town and into a tranquil or adventurous experience, away from today's busy urban lifestyle. The new XC60 is no exception. The challenge was to create a relevant and credible, yet exciting campaign that clearly explains the Swedish heart of Volvo and the core of Scandinavian lifestyle.

For the last few years, Swedish House Mafia has been one of the most successful music acts in the world and by far the most successful Swedish act. They have officially broken up as of their final appearance at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, USA, on March 24, 2013. The band members are now concentrating on new projects in their successful careers but as a last project together, they created a brand new version of "Leave the World Behind.

By Jonathon Ramsey