Danny Elfman is keeping his promise to release a new song every month this year. Following January’s “Sorry” and last month’s “Love in the Time of COVID”, the beloved composer has returned with another new tune called “Kick Me”.
After releasing his first solo song in 36 years last fall, the 67-year-old got the bug and pledged to unleash a brand new recording on the 11th day of each month. His previous two songs met at the crossroads of progressive metal and Broadway pageantry, but “Kick Me” is his shortest, heaviest, and most straightforward yet.
Featuring frenetic drumming and punk-ish guitars, it sounds like a cross between System of a Down, Primus, and one of his Tim Burton scores. Meanwhile, its lyrics see Elfman playing the part of a tone-deaf celebrity, unloading narcissistic pleas for love and admiration while disparaging the poor in the same breath. “Kick me I‘m a royalty, kick me I‘m a royalty/ Poverty disgusts me, poverty disgusts me/ But I‘m such a likable guy, but I‘m such a likable guy,” he sings with a frenzied yelp.
The song’s video is equally absurd. Directed by Petros Papahadjopoulos and featuring animation by Joe Pascale, it features a nightmarishly edited shots of a shirtless Elfman gritting his teeth and swinging his arms around like a bougie madman. Watch and listen below.
“I was feeling particularly mellow one day last summer,” Elfman joked in a press release. “I decided to write this very chill song for everyone who wants to put something on that will really help them zone out and relax. Enjoy!”
With the way these singles are going, who knows what to expect for next month’s kooky edition. Outside of his solo music, Elfman is also working on the score for the upcoming Marvel flick, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is being directed by Sam Raimi.
