In their new single “That Life,” Unknown Mortal Orchestra explores a life of luxury and delight. The track has that same sound that we all love from UMO, while creating a care-free vibe to relate to its care-free lyrics. Following their June song “Weekend Run,” this is the second single release of the summer. “That Life” is Dan’s DJ Pick of the Week!
Ruban Nielson began his recording project, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, back in 2010 and has been creating ever since. The New Zealand psychedelic rock band is composed of Nielson, drummer and back-up vocalist Kody Nielson, and bassist Jake Portrait. Known for their use of synths in songs like “Hunnybee” and “So Good at Being in Trouble,” “That Life” is heavy on drums and guitar. Nielson explained in a press release what inspired him to write the single:
“I saw this painting by Hieronymus Bosch called The Garden of Earthly Delights and in the painting there was a mixture of crazy stuff going on, representing heaven, earth, and hell. When I was writing this song, ‘That Life,’ I was imaging the same kind of ‘Where’s Waldo’ (or ‘Where’s Wally’ as we call it in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK) of contrasting scenes and multiple characters all engaged in that same perverse mixture of luxury, reverie, damnation, in the landscape of America. Somewhere on holiday under a vengeful sun.“
Reminding us of all the luxuries that we only dream about, “That Life” is definitely a summer treat. Continuing with the theme of luxury and control, the music video features a blue dancing puppet. Laura Manns, of The Muppets and Sesame Street, created the puppet, and Lydia Fine and Tony Blahd directed the video. Watch below!
Tune into 100.1 FM or lightning100.com to hear “That Life” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra, featured as Dan’s DJ Pick of the Week. Be sure to let us know your thoughts! Tweet at us with #L100DJPick and share your take on the track. To check out more of Dan’s picks, visit lightning100.com/dan.
