Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Spitting Off the Edge of the World"

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have finally returned with their first new album since 2013's Mosquito!

A lot has changed since we last heard from Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase. We've had three presidential administrations, a number of set backs as a country, and, you know, the pandemic. Nothing today feels like it did nearly a decade ago. They've been through a lot and so have the rest of us, but that hasn't stopped the Yeah Yeah Yeahs from getting back together and making another record. The first offering from this (hopeful) comeback album is the widescreen single, "Spitting Off the Edge of the World," which was produced by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek and features Perfume Genius on guest vocals. For those expecting the dirty, garage-rock ethos of the band to be rekindled, you might need to hold out just a little longer as this one continues the synth-pop push of It's Blitz and not so much the ragged guitar that cemented them as one of the saviors of rock nearly twenty years ago. The track feels epic, like the band is throwing everything they have at the wall and hoping that some of it sticks. Luckily for us, some of it does and the result is one of their most cinematic and grandiose tracks to date. Karen's vocals are still giving us life while Nick and Brian turn up the gloss, giving this such a pristine feel of ultra-polished glamour. It feels perfectly composed to score a shot that slowly pulls back to reveal something bigger than itself, like you're slowly zooming far out to unveil a sight almost too much to behold. The crystalline synths feel major and you get the sense that the band is letting everything ride with this one. There's no holding back for them now. It's been nearly a decade since the band's last record and the follow-up to your universal disappointment is never easy to get over the finish line, but the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have done it and now time will tell if they can recapture the magic many still seek from them. For now, we at least have a glimmer of hope from this promising start.

Cool It Down is out September 30 via Secretly Canadian.