ALT-J Has Released a Brand-New Track ‘Hard Drive Gold’
Alt-J has shared a new song called ‘Hard Drive Gold,’ the latest single from their upcoming album ‘The Dream.’ The upbeat and humorous tune, which includes the repeating chorus “Don’t be afraid to make money, boy,” is accompanied by a video, which also marks the directorial debut of vocalist Joe Newman.
Speaking of the new track, keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton said: “Hard Drive Gold is a slightly tongue-in-cheek song written at what we thought was the height of the cryptocurrency gold rush.
“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 neighbours. How ironically you interpret its message is entirely up to you…”
Commenting on the surreal music video, Newman said: “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 ‘aeroplane hanger’ the audience could focus on the cinema over the indie band music video tropes.”
He continued: “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.”
‘Hard Drive Gold’ follows ‘Get Better’, which the band released in November alongside news of a 2022 tour of the UK and Ireland, and first single ‘U&ME’.
The group had earlier advertised a prize draw to win a Larrivee P-05 guitar inscribed with handwritten lyrics, which is the identical guitar model that Newman used while writing ‘The Dream.’
All proceeds from the raffle will benefit Plan International, a global children’s charity that works in more than 50 countries to achieve long-term gender equality while also safeguarding the rights of all children.
Pre-orders for ‘The Dream,’ which will be released on February 11 via Infectious Music/BMG, are now available. The UK tour will begin on May 7 in Glasgow and culminate in Birmingham at the end of the month. The band announced additional tour dates in London and Dublin in November.
In other news, drummer Thom Green discussed last month about returning to performing during a pandemic as someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable. The singer suffers from a rare genetic ailment that necessitated a kidney transplant when he was still a student.
“We’re just going to have to be extra vigilant,” he told the BBC. “Whatever we have to do, that’s what we’ll do because it’ll be so worth it just to get on stage again.”
