Alt-J have shared a new track called ‘Hard Drive Gold’, which is the latest single to be taken from their new album ‘The Dream’.
The energetic and quirky song – featuring the repeated refrain “Don’t be afraid to make money, boy” – is accompanied by a video, which also marks vocalist Joe Newman’s directorial debut.
Speaking of the new track, keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton said: “Hard Drive Gold is a slightly tongue-in-cheek song written at what we thought was the height of the cryptocurrency gold rush.
“It’s the story of the ultimate childhood fantasy, the schoolboy who becomes a millionaire overnight, and the different interactions he has with people in his life from teachers to neighbours. How ironically you interpret its message is entirely up to you…”
Commenting on the surreal music video, Newman said: “Growing up enjoying cinema greatly I saw our music videos as opportune moments for directors to create stories purely and so we the band did not appear in our videos. By avoiding cuts to a band playing in an ‘aeroplane hanger’ the audience could focus on the cinema over the indie band music video tropes.”
He continued: “I had ideas for videos that I passed on to directors to develop, watching these directors execute some of these ideas inspired me and now I want to understand and experience the process at a deeper level.”
‘Hard Drive Gold’ follows ‘Get Better’, which the band released in November alongside news of a 2022 tour of the UK and Ireland, and first single ‘U&ME’.
The trio also previously announced a prize draw to win a Larrivee P-05 guitar inscribed with handwritten lyrics – the same model of guitar that Newman used during the writing of ‘The Dream’.
All proceeds from the draw will go to Plan International, a global children’s charity that operates in more than 50 countries to create lasting equality for girls, while also protecting the rights of all children. You can enter the draw here.
‘The Dream’ is due out February 11 via Infectious Music/BMG and is available to pre-order now. The UK tour will kick off in Glasgow on May 7, before concluding in Birmingham at the end of the month. In November, the band announced extra tour dates in London and Dublin.
In other news, drummer Thom Green spoke last month about returning to touring in a pandemic as someone who is considered clinically extremely vulnerable. The musician has a rare genetic condition, which meant he had to have a kidney transplant when he was a student.
“We’re just going to have to be extra vigilant,” he told the BBC. “Whatever we have to do, that’s what we’ll do because it’ll be so worth it just to get on stage again.”
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