Fans of Deerhunter, the indie rock band led by Bradford Cox, haven’t had much good news of late. The group’s been fairly reclusive since 2013’s Monomania, and last December Cox was hit by a car in Atlanta, leading to a long, grueling hospitalization. But new tunes are on the horizon: The band’s announced their seventh album, Fading Frontier, and shared its first single, a peppy little slice of psych-funk called “Snakeskin.”
Those funk grooves are a surprising addition to the band’s washed-out garage rock. Monomania was a nocturnal record, one shaded by Lockett Pundt’s jangly, reverb-heavy guitarwork and Cox’s wailing melodies. “Snakeskin” has a brighter feel: the chords are crisp and Niles Rodgers-like, the rhythms upbeat and propulsive. Of course, this being Deerhunter, the song’s last two minutes are a swirl of hypnotic bass lines and ambient noise—but who’s complaining? Fading Frontier is out in October; you can find its cover art and a full tracklist here.
