Nearly four decades after unleashing “Safety Dance” on the world, Men Without Hats are writing the next chapter of the story with their new single “No Friends of Mine.” Take a listen below.
Built around hop-scotching synths, booming percussion, and an all-too-familiar melody line on flute, the track slows the 1982 new wave classic down into a rather soothing meditation while replicating its original lyrics. “We can dance if we want to/ We can leave your friends behind/ ‘Cause your friends don’t dance/ And if they don’t dance/ Well, they’re no friends of mine,” Ivan Doroschuk croons before a bombastic beat crashes in on the song’s chorus.
“After the filming of the music video for ‘Safety Dance,’ the jester and the crazy blonde girl settled down in West Kington. He became the mayor of the town and she stayed at home to raise their family,” the band posited in a statement. “Forty years later, we have gone back to visit them, with ‘No Friends of Mine’ serving as the soundtrack.”
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The new song is the first taste of the Canadian synth-pop act’s upcoming EP, Again (Part 1). The five-track covers project is set to be released September 24th via Curve Music, with a full-length album of original tunes to follow some time in 2022.
At the end of July, Angel Olsen dropped her own take on “Safety Dance” as the lead single of her EP of ’80s covers, Aisles.
