Yeah Yeah Yeahs have returned with their first new music in nine years. They've announced their fifth studio album Cool It Down, the follow-up to 2013's Mosquito, with the single "Spitting Off the Edge of the World" that features Perfume Genius. The announcement of the new album—which is out September 30—and single come with a striking visual emphasizing a grandiose and gritty rock 'n' roll return with construction workers hocking loogies, Perfume Genius turning into a limo-driving "avenging angel," and Karen O singing on top of a limo that looks like it came straight out of Trash and Vaudeville. In spite of the looming death it depicts, the Cody Critcheloe–directed video ends with the trio playing a rowdy underground punk show.
"Spitting Off the Edge of the World" confronts us with a thick new wave wall-of-sound as Karen O's vocals call for resilience in a seemingly hopeless world. "And the kids cry out / We’re spitting off the edge of the world / Out in the night / Never had no chance / Nowhere to hide," goes the chorus. “I see the younger generations staring down this threat, and they’re standing on the edge of a precipice, confronting what’s coming with anger and defiance,” Karen O said about the track's lyrics. “It’s galvanizing, and there’s hope there.”
In regard to the video, she adds that "it's a dream collaboration with one of our favorite artists of the 21st century Cody Critcheloe who did the artwork for our first record back in 2003 and has been making visionary music videos for the last decade. The time to collaborate again came with 'Spitting;' the shoot in Kansas City was dream-like, the dreams you have after eating something really greasy right before bed—bizarre, poetic, and intense. Perfume Genius was incredibly gracious to roll in the very cold mud as my co-pilot and steal scene after scene with his surreal charm.”
Watch the rock 'n' roll glory below, and pre-order Cool It Down here.
