Death From Above 1979 (DFA), the boundary-pushing musical alliance of Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler, have released their new single, “One + One.”
Along with the first single, the band dropped a surprise announcement of their fourth LP, Is 4 Lovers, out March 26. It is available for pre-order here.
The new album, which Grainger and Keeler wrote, produced, mastered, and recorded entirely by themselves, captures the creation of a totally new sound and a reimagining of the format they created more than 20 years ago.
With the band leaving subtle hints at what was to come across social platforms over the past few months, fan response at launch, and in anticipation of new music, has been ferocious. Adding to the hype, on January 18, fans were invited to call a hotline, where the lyrics of “One + One” were recited in a dramatic reading by Keeler. With calls flooding in leading up to the single’s official announcement on January 25, the news of a forthcoming album leaves fans, fondly referred to as “Lovers,” counting down the days to the album’s release.
“One + One” arrives as an unmistakably DFA-esque track and is the first taste of new music since their 2017 release Outrage! Is Now.
“‘One + One’ is a love song,” says Grainger. “It’s the karmic sequel to ‘Romantic Rights.’ My wife, Eva, became pregnant not long after we started working on the song, and after hearing an early version she said, ‘I wish this song was dancier.’ So I went back into the studio and re-worked the drums. As the record was taking shape, every time I would come home from the studio, the baby would start dancing in Eva’s belly. Even before I walked in the room, the party would start. One plus one is three — that’s magic!”
The music video, created as a collage of disparate frames and moments inspired by the photography of artist David Hockney, was shot in Marmora, Ontario, and directed by Eva Michon, who also helmed the band’s documentary Life After Death from Above 1979 (2014).
“Since we started playing, people would come up to the stage and after and say, ‘I can’t believe there’s just two of you,'” explains Grainger. “The video for ‘One + One’ is Eva’s way of showing that our band is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s Death From Above 1979 in multitudes.”
