Unknown Mortal Orchestra are gearing up for the release of their third album Multi-Love, dropping the title track alongside album details.
The band, started by Kiwi multi-instrumentalist Ruben Nielson, will release the nine-track Multi-Love at the end of May. It will follow their appropriately titled second album II which was released in 2013.
Nielson explained to Stereogum that the album was inspired by a change of lifestyle. “I needed to change a lot of things. I was typically off the rails and sick”, he said, “I wanted to put danger aside and focus on love. A new kind of futuristic multi-love. Not some hippie bullshit, but a hard-edged, cynical, and sharp kind of love.”
The first single, Multi-Love, features that typical Nielson falsetto but its differentiated by a far cleaner production, less reverb and perkier percussion.
As the title-track indicates, Multi-Love is set to be far more optimistic than previous releases. While II was based on loneliness, this record is about relationships. “The writing on this album was more abstract, riddles that slightly disrupt the flow,” Nielson says in a press release. “A good lyric was something that didn’t quite sit right. I don’t want to be sad or nostalgic about these relationships. I want to be more celebratory.”
Mutli-Love will be released on Friday, 22nd May via Jagjaguwar through Inertia. Listen to the song and check out the cover and tracklist below.
Listen: Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love Tracklist
1. Multi-Love
2. Like Acid Rain
3. Ur Life One Night
4. Can’t Keep Checking My Phone
5. Extreme Wealth and Casual Cruelty
6. The World Is Crowded
7. Stage or Screen
8. Necessary Evil
9. Puzzles
