Sophia Michaels
Indie rock stalwarts Dirty Projectors have unveiled their first new music in two years, a disconcertingly serene tune titled “Overlord.” The track marks the first studio offering to feature the new lineup band leader Dave Longstreth put together around 2018, with touring guitarist and back-up singer Maia Friedman providing lead vocals and co-writing “Overlord” with Longstreth.
“Overlord” is vintage Dirty Projectors, with Friedman lacing her soft vocals atop shuffling drums and finger-picked guitar. And, of course, there are plenty of meticulously layered backing harmonies.
“Maia and I wrote the words to ‘Overlord’ at Ivo Shandor in Los Angeles,” Longstreth said. “It’s a song about how there’s no difference between convenience and freedom, technology is always good, and charisma and trustworthiness are the same things. At least I think that’s what we came up with…”
“Overlord” also arrives with a music video that opens with Longstreth playing guitar in front of an auto repair shop, and goes on to feature Friedman and other members of Dirty Projectors performing the song around New York City.
Dirty Projectors released their most recent studio album, Lamp Lit Prose, in 2018. Late last year, they released Sing the Melody, which found them recording live arrangements of old and new songs at Power Station studios in New York City.
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