alt-J – “Hard Drive Gold”

Leeds art-rockers Alt-J are returning next month with the new album The Dream, their first since 2017’s Relaxer. We’ve heard two singles already, “U&ME” and “Get Better.” And today, they’re adding a third to that list, “Hard Drive Gold.”

“‘Hard Drive Gold’ is a slightly tongue-in-cheek song written at what we thought was the height of the cryptocurrency gold rush,” the band’s Joe Newman explains. “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 neighbors. How ironically you interpret its message is entirely up to you…”

Newman also helmed the accompanying music video in his directorial debut; his partner Darcy Wallace co-directed. “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 ‘airplane hanger’ the audience could focus on the cinema over the indie band music video tropes,” Newman says. “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.”

Watch and listen below.

The Dream is out 2/11 via Canvasback/Atlantic. Pre-order it here.