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Jul 11, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Daniel Everett Patrick

Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo is releasing his first album under his own name, World of Hassle, on September 15 via Mom+Pop. Now he has shared its third single, “Meutrière,” which features Flore Benguigui and was shared via a self-directed music video. Watch it below.

Palomo had this to say about the new song in a press release: “Though I tend to reference movies in my work, I’ve always wanted to write a song taking place on a film set that explores the friction often felt between actors and their directors. The trust. The reckless abandon. A drama that precedes the onscreen drama. I was gleefully nonplussed when L’Imperatrice’s very own Fleure Benguigui agreed to duet this kooky French-Italo banger.”

Of the video he adds: “From the jump, I knew I wanted to have the lyrics of ‘Meutrière’ directly inform the video’s concept and attempt to adapt them as if they were a script. Born out of my love for Giallo flicks, this is a surreal smear of both the horrors in front and behind the camera on one particularly nightmarish Italian film set. Made with the closest of homies, this might be my favorite one yet!”

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.

Then when the album was announced, Palomo shared its second single, the jazzy “Stay-At-Home DJ,” via a lyric video. It was one of our Songs of the Week.

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

A previous press release described 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.

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