Brooklyn post punk/new wave/synth-pop outfit Nation Of Language have revealed their new single “Too Much, Enough“, alongside an accompanying video.
The track is taken from their much-anticipated new album ‘Strange Disciple‘, due to be released on September 15 via [PIAS]. Pre-order it here.
In this new song, the band takes aim at the angering, addictive and anxiety-inducing TV news cycles that have so many viewers hopelessly devoted. ‘Too Much, Enough’ looks outward with an effect that is both immediate and irresistible. The chorus explodes like the revelation of a third eye opening, combining a ricocheting pattern of synths with an uninhibited bassline, leaping vocal melodies and an empathic call-and-response.
Speaking about it, they say:
“Too Much, Enough’ is a song born out of an exhaustion with the 24 hour news cycle and the outrage bait it uses to get everyone permanently wound up. It seems the only way to find an edge in the media business is to appeal to our most base instincts of disgust (see: the high ratings of Fox News, etc.), and we end up suffering both individually and collectively for it.
When it came to creating a visual to go alongside the song, we didn’t want the music video to be its own form of outrage bait so we went with a more absurdist approach, gathering some friends of ours, and of our incredible director Robert Kolodny, to make something fun and outlandish to that effect. We also laced the video with as many NOL-related Easter eggs and iconography as possible to give anyone watching an opportunity to play along at home and be a part of that absurdity. It felt good to try to name a problem for ourselves without leaning on fear and rage.
It’s a powerful thing to deny someone the ability to manipulate your most destructive emotions, and that’s something we want to celebrate here.
The overarching theme of Strange Disciple is infatuation and how one’s reality can be warped by it. We went a more romantic route with that on the previous video, but News is one of those less interpersonal activities it feels like everyone takes part in, so we wanted to show our disciple is just as susceptible to it as any other figure.”
Watch the Robert Kolodny-directed video below, starring Emmy-nominated actor Jimmi Simpson (Westworld, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia).
Nation of Language Tour Dates 2023
3/8 – Haldern, DE – Haldern Pop
4/8 – Diepholz, DE – Appletree Garden
5/8 – Katowice, PL – OFF Festival
11/8 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands
12/8 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall^
13/8 – Seattle, WA – Day In Day Out
14/8 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre^
7/9 – Baltimore, MD – WTMD’s First Thursday Festival
15/9 – Berlin, DE – Kesselhaus SOLD OUT
16/9 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefährlich
17/9 – Malmo, SE – Plan B
18/9 – Copenhagen, DK – Pumpehuset
20/9 – Kӧln, DE – Gebäude9
21/9 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
22/9 – Brussels, BE – Orangerie
23/9 – Paris, FR – Trabendo
25/9 – Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix
27/9 – London, UK – HEAVEN
28/9 – Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
29/9 – Bristol, UK – Marble Factory
30/9 – Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
4/10 – Manchester, UK – New Century
5/10 – Leeds, UK – Stylus
6/10 – Sheffield, UK – Foundry
7/10 – Newcastle, UK – Boiler Shop
Tickets HERE
Photo credit: Shervin Lainez
