MusicFirst LookListen to The Drums' lovelorn new singleThe NYC duo premiere ‘I Can't Pretend’, a swooning centrepiece of their third album EncyclopaediaShareLink copied ✔️August 20, 2014MusicFirst LookTextJazz Monroe Anyone closely attuned to the inner reverberations of The Drums will have witnessed a shaky few years for the New York-based band. After major US TV appearances following 2011’s Portamento, rumours abounded of ongoing tensions, scrapped solo projects and the band’s imminent breakup. But fans can take solace in “I Can’t Pretend,” a mournful highlight from September-bound LP Encyclopaedia that starts like MGMT cruising through a wind tunnel before shooting into starlit histrionics reminiscent of Pixies classic “Where Is My Mind?” Lyrically, it’s predictably double-edged – this from a band whose romantic distance has always sounded less lackadaisical than coolly passive-aggressive – with Jonathan Pierce’s sun-lounger sighs bleeding raw indignation. Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MORE7 of Chase Infiniti’s favourite K-pop tracksMeet The Deep, K-pop’s antihero Jean Paul GaultierJean Paul Gaultier’s iconic Le Male is the gift that keeps on giving‘This is our Nirvana!’: Are Geese Gen Z’s first great rock band?10 of Yung Lean’s best collabs‘We’re like brother and sister’: Yung Lean and Charli xcx in conversationIs art finally getting challenging again?The only tracks you need to hear from November 2025Inside the world of Amore, Spain’s latest rising starLella Fadda is blazing a trail in the Egyptian music sceneThe rise of Sweden’s post-pop undergroundNeda is the singer-songwriter blending Farsi classics with Lily Allen