For their upcoming album Life On Earth, Hurray For The Riff Raff operates on a decidedly different wavelength than the vivid, semi-autobiographical alt-folk narratives of critically acclaimed predecessor The Navigator. Previous singles lean towards the more succinct, swift songwriting chops of Alynda Segarra’s punk roots: “RHODODENDRON” is a taut uptempo strummer, whereas “JUPITER’S DANCE” dips its toes into a sleek dancehall cadence. The new single “PIERCED ARROWS” once again sounds both grounded and adventurous: it flirts with a ghoulish industrial thrust, but still maintains enough of that earthbound, shoestring sensibility to feel raw and urgent.
Segarra describes ‘PIERCED ARROWS” as “a heartbreak song, lost in the realm of memory. Being stuck in the past, and finding the rapidly changing world uncanny and bizarre. Trying to outrun trauma. Finding a meeting place between tough and tender. Memory replaying inside/beside you, triggering fight or flight responses.”
Lucy Honey, the director of the music video, says the inspiration sprung from a lot of arthouse films from the late 90s and early 00s. “Run Lola Run, Requiem for a Dream, My Own Private Idaho. We wanted “PIERCED ARROWS” to have a gritty narrative feel but that still indulged in a surrealist aesthetic.”
Life On Earth will be released on Nonesuch on February 18th. Preorder the album on Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Bandcamp page.
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