Grimes is back with a new single, “We Appreciate Power”. The hard-hitting industrial rock song features frequent collaborator HANA.
“We Appreciate Power” was inspired by the Moranbong Band, the North Korean girl group whose members were selected by supreme leader Kim Jong-un to spread a pro-regime message. Grimes’s song is written from the perspective of a pro-AI girl group, who “use song, dance, sex and fashion to spread goodwill towards Artificial Intelligence”, according to the song’s press release. “Simply by listening to this song, the future General AI overlords will see that you’ve supported their message and be less likely to delete your offspring.”
The lyric video, which stars Grimes and HANA, was directed by Grimes’s brother, filmmaker Mac Boucher. The single follows on from Grimes’s recent collaboration with YouTube oddity Poppy, “Play Destroy”, and her collaborations with Janelle Monáe and K-pop group LOONA earlier in the year.
Grimes’s last record was 2015’s Art Angels. Its follow-up was rumoured to arrive earlier this year, but she has also tweeted about her frustrations with her record label since then.
Earlier this week, Grimes released a new line of merchandise.
Listen to “We Appreciate Power” below.