Brooklyn’s Native Sun have become a consistent source for garage rock that feels both stoned-out and a little nuts, most recently gracing us with their wailing, punky Off with Their Heads EP back in 2022. “‘Off with Our Heads’ is a spot-on title, especially after watching Native Sun go so fully primal in the studio, the urgency of each track is palpable,” the EP’s producer Walter Schreifels shared with us ahead of that release—quite the compliment coming from Gorilla Biscuits’ guitarist.
Though we hadn’t heard from them since last March when they released the blistering one-off single “Too Late,” the band returns today with their first new single of the year with “I Need Nothing,” a defiant statement railing against, you know, all that stuff we’ve been subjected to over the past three and a half months. “It taps into a collective exhaustion—being bombarded by political dysfunction, performative media, and the hyperreality of late-stage capitalism,” the band shares. “But the song isn’t about apathy; it’s about stepping back to reclaim space, to think clearly, and to act with intent. It’s a defiant refusal to be consumed by a broken system. At its heart, ‘I Need Nothing’ is about survival and self-liberation through clarity and detachment.”
The track’s energy is certainly liberating, and the engaging performance video it comes paired with certainly abets that vibe. “We developed the concept with Tim Nagle and Conor James, and shot it in a warehouse space—white walls, no set, no distractions,” the band adds of the clip. “That starkness was deliberate. It’s a counterpoint to the hyper-curated, overloaded world the song pushes against. Just the band in a room, lit by shifting color. A raw performance—no spectacle. That kind of simplicity can be its own kind of resistance.”
Check out what the band calls their “James Brown–inspired groove” below.
