Danny Elfman has released a new song, “Insects”, with a psychedelic accompanying music video. The reworking of Oingo Boingo’s original track of the same name appears on Big Mess, his new album out on June 11th.
The Oingo Boingo founder has updated the 1982 track with new lyrics inspired the politics of our time. “Old white men, they’re back in power again,” he snarls. “They’re sucking all the power and pride/ They’re leaving us anesthetized/ They’re trying to lobotomize.”
In a statement, Elfman shared the background behind “Insects”. He explained,
“In the beginning of 2020 I was preparing a live show for Coachella. I’d been looking for old Boingo songs that connected to the dystopian nightmare I found myself immersed in at that moment in time living in America. As I played around with different songs it occurred to me that ‘Insects’ made sense. Who were the ‘Insects,’ the blood suckers of today? It was obvious to me — they all hived together in Washington and seemed to thrive on sucking the rational sense of reality out of our brains.”
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Co-directed by Sam and Andy Rolfes, the trippy “Insects” clip was created in VR with “80 contorted creatures.” Sam Rolfes said the video is meant to represent “a relentless digital swarm of information and virtual noise” slowly consuming our minds from the moment we wake. Check it out below.
On a grander scale, Big Mess is an 18-track double-album that sees Elfman reckoning with “four years of creeping fascism and civil rot.” Pre-orders are ongoing, and you can check out the artwork and tracklist here.
Elfman recently announced he will reprise his singing role of Jack Skellington during a live-to-film concert experience of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, for which he composed the music, lyrics, and score. It will take place at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles on October 29th. Tickets are available here, and you can look for deals here once they sell out.
