Indie rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra offers up their latest single ‘Nadja’ ahead of the release of their highly anticipated album V.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra has just dropped their new single ‘Nadja’, along with the second video in a series of Vira-Lata-directed visual narratives that began with their recent release ‘Layla’, which the New York Times dubbed as “full of warmth, with a soulful vocal melody.”
The upcoming double album V, set to drop on March 17th via Jagjaguwar, is being led by Hawaiian-New Zealand musician Ruban Nielson and is a blend of West Coast AOR, classic hits, weirdo pop, and Hawaiian Hapa-haole music. This album marks Nielson’s first double album, and it reframes and enriches the road that led him to this moment.
The fourteen-track V includes singalong anthems, cinematic instrumentals, and mischievous pop songs that evoke the feeling of blue skies, beachside cocktail bars, hotel pools, and the darkness that lurks below perfect, pristine surfaces. Nielson’s childhood spent playing by hotel swimming pools with his siblings while their parents performed in showbands across the Pacific and East Asia is what inspired the desert resort city’s palm tree-lined streets. Nielson has now become aware of the glamorized hedonism he internalized during childhood and the darker side of his parents’ lifestyle when they were working as entertainers.
Nielson shares that one of the primary goals of V is to create music and art that transcends notions of clout and cultural currency while also injecting having fun back into the process of making music. With V, Nielson is reclaiming taste as a personal part of selfhood, propelling UMO to new creative heights. V is also about having fun while making music and art, and by doing so, Nielson connects his Polynesian heritage and mischief-making with his love for music. The pandemic’s early days brought Nielson closer to his family, and his experiences during that time helped him create an album that’s fun, honest, and full of beauty.
Watch Nadja below:
https://t.co/6cqWVjV3nJ pic.twitter.com/SGPq3Arn0o
— UMO (@UMO) February 2, 2023
