Thirty Seconds to Mars Unleash Cinematic ‘City of Angels’ Lyric Video

Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto certainly knows how to get the most out of his home base of Los Angeles, as evidenced in the band's new lyric video for 'City of Angels.'

Leto's directing alter-ego Bartholomew Cubbins showed off the splendor of Los Angeles at night in the band's short film for 'Kings and Queens' a couple of years back and this time around the vocalist takes a more simplistic approach with a silhouetted shot of the himself against the backdrop of a Los Angeles sunset in the final dwindling moments of magic hour.

The frontman, who has let his long locks grow, can be seen in pitch black silhouette form demonstratively moving to the beat of 'City of Angels' while performing the coming-of-age track in the Hollywood Hills. Leto lets forth a little extra something in his performance as he belts the song's lyrics and delivers a Bono-esque impassioned delivery of the word "Home" toward the end of the clip.

Speaking about the clip, Leto stated that it was a last minute piece of magic that came together surprisingly well. He explained, "So there we were. Deadline city. Once again. A lyric video was needed. We were way past deadline and without any real options in sight. We were getting desperate. Having just finished 'Do Or Die' and already shooting / editing 'City of Angels' there wasn’t much time to get one in order -- especially one worthy to share with you all. So I said f--- it, grabbed my camera, went up to the hills of Hollywood and shot. We came back with this."

He continued, "It's mostly one take, a couple cut-aways. But very simple overall and sometimes that’s for the best … We got really lucky with some incredibly gorgeous light and maybe some magic from an owl that kept us company during shooting. If you look close you can even see him fly right by me. Really nice to be able to share such a beautiful sunset with you all."

The song comes from Thirty Seconds to Mars' latest album, 'Love Lust Faith + Dreams,' which is currently available on iTunes. In related news, Leto made an appearance presenting Kanye West's performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Though the show was mostly rock-free, Leto and Thirty Seconds to Mars did win Best Rock Video for 'Up in the Air.'