Sophia Michaels
Yeah Yeah Yeahs go full technicolor dream in the music video for their latest single, “Blacktop,” which appears on their recently released studio album Cool it Down. With Karen O at its center, the David Black-directed video toys with shadows and silhouettes to pair a visual narrative with the emotionally stripped-back track.
“‘Blacktop’ stuck out to me early on, the demo was very stripped down instrumentally and emotionally. It was a step towards what radical closeness feels like after a long separation,” Karen O explained in a statement. “Each record has one of these diamonds in the rough that just feels like flying to me. It felt right to keep the video as stripped down and dare I say beautiful in its naïveté.”
Recalling the video shoot, Karen O added: “David Black put us in front of his 70s analog video camera with the intention to pull stills for band shots. He had me sing to ‘Blacktop’ before I had even memorized the lyrics, I thought I knew the song by heart but it felt like an introduction, like meeting it for the first time. It wasn’t intended to end up as a video and as a return to the earliest visuals from the record it completes a circle, we’re so happy we have it, a simple layered performance for a deceptively simple song. We hope you enjoy.”
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have also unveiled dates for the North American leg of their forthcoming tour in support of Cool it Down. The segment of shows will begin on May 3 in Washington, D.C., and span through June 10, when the band will play in Berkeley, California. They will make stops in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Houston, and more. General on-sale begins Friday, Feb. 10, at 10 a.m. local time.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2023 Tour Dates
May 3 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
May 5 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival
May 7 – Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
May 9 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
May 12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
May 13 – Pasadena, CA @ Just Like Heaven
May 26 – Allston, MA @ Boston Calling Music Festival
June 1 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
June 3 – Minneapolis, MN @ Armory
June 5 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
June 7 – Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Live
June 8 – Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield
June 10 – Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre
July 28 – 30 – Yuzawa, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
August 25 – London, EN @ All Points East
August 26 – Paris, FR @ Rock en Seine
August 28 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
August 29 – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
