Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs make their triumphant return.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back with their first slice of new music in nine years: after signing to Secretly Canadian earlier this year, the NYC indie legends have returned with “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” which features alt pop extraordinaire Perfume Genius.
Though they’ve been gone for a large part of the last decade, their return does not come with the urgent, electrifying dance punk that characterized their previous two albums; instead, they appear to be taking a page from M83’s effervescent shoegaze, letting the song’s slow tempo lend itself to seismic, patient synth explosions.
It’s almost as if “the edge of the world” is a metaphor for their time away from releasing music together, and this is their attempt to reconnect with those awe-inspiring, climactic feelings that it gives them. The world has undoubtedly changed in these nine years, and our demands for music that meets us where we are as a culture has never been higher.
It’s fitting that Yeah Yeah Yeahs are determined to create widescreen music that feels aligned with the moment, and “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” is a wonderful attempt. Combine that with Perfume Genius’ unmistakeable poise and gentle deliveries, and you get a spacey, dazzling return from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
— Paolo Ragusa