Indie Rock Act Halfloves Share Existential New Video For “Do U Follow Me?”

Iowa indie rock act Halfloves have released their upbeat new single “Do U Follow Me?”, their first new release since 2019’s album Dazer. According to the band, they had been sitting on the bassline since 2016, inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s “King Kunta” and Gorillaz’s “Stylo”, but it wasn’t until the events of Blackout Tuesday on June 2, 2020 that the rest of the song unfolded. “It was mystifying to sort out our true motivations in posting that black square – was it in solidarity for the cause of justice or was it for our ‘brand’ on social media? Was obsessing over that question a healthy self-reflection or was it self-centered and even white-centric?“

They continue, “Beyond that specific scenario, it’s just curious how something as seemingly innocuous as a technology that enables you to share photos of your dog with your family also has this enormous power to subconsciously direct the behaviors of millions and shape the zeitgeist of a culture, transforming the deepest parts of our psychology and sense of purpose. Meaning has become conflated with metrics. We had to ask ourselves, ‘Where is this leading us? What are we following?’”

On the surface, the track follows a simple, familiar indie rock pattern of guitar-pop hooks and bright vocals, before suddenly switching gears into a crescendoing explosion of guitar fuzz and intensity. Matching the energy, Halfloves return to the simple days of landline telephones, playful choreographing themselves with a handful of muted coloured telephones. Playing with the idea of social media, the wired cables become a symbol of the messy, virtual world that the future has become.

Watch below: