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Jun 06, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Daniel Everett Patrick

Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo has announced his first album under his own name, World of Hassle, and shared a new song from it, the jazzy “Stay-At-Home DJ,” via a lyric video. World of Hassle is due out September 15 via Mom+Pop. Check out “Stay-At-Home DJ” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover artwork.

Palomo had this to say about “Stay-At-Home DJ” in a press release: “This is the song that started the whole conversation. My brother and I wrote it back in 2019 and performed it on the last Neon Indian tour. It signaled a change in direction I’d been looking for but had yet to really know what to do with. When things slowed down during the pandemic I dusted it off and from its uncontrollable outgrowth came World of Hassle.”

Previously, Palomo shared his first single under his own name, “Nudista Mundial ’89,” which featured Mac DeMarco and is also included on the album. It was shared via an animated video inspired by the 1980s adult video game Leisure Suit Larry, in which Palomo and DeMarco go to Ibiza and search for a nude beach party. Palomo wrote and directed the video, which was animated by Johnny Woods.

World of Hassle started out as a Neon Indian album, before Palomo decided to switch gears and release it as a solo album.

A press release describes the vibe of the project in further detail: “From the intricate fictional details packed into the cover art (co-created by Palomo and designer Robert Beatty), to the lyrical collage of pop culture and political references, to the music’s early-digital sheen, the album evokes the ’80s golden age of rock stars like Bryan Ferry and Sting leaving their own breakthrough projects to strike out as jazzy solo musicians.

Palomo’s last Neon Indian song was 2019’s “Toyota Man,” a Spanish language track that was a satire of the immigration crisis that was one of our Songs of the Week.

Neon Indian’s last album, VEGA INTL. Night School, was released way back in 2015 via Mom + Pop. It was #20 on our Top 100 albums of 2015 list.

Read our 2015 print article on Neon Indian, as well as our 2015 bonus digital mag Q&A with Neon Indian.

Also read our review of VEGA INTL. Night School.

World of Hassle Tracklist:

1. The Wailing Mall
2. Meutrière (feat. Flore Benguigui)
3. La Madrileña
4. Nudista Mundial ‘89 (feat. Mac DeMarco)
5. The Return of Mickey Milan
6. Stay-At-Home DJ
7. Club People
8. Alibi for Petra
9. Nobody’s Woman
10. Is There Nightlife After Death?
11. Big Night of Heartache
12. The Island Years
13. Trouble In Mind

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