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Mar 10, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Kiley Rothweiler

Just as New York City-based art rockers Imaginary People were beginning the rollout for their third album last year the pandemic hit. Yet the year in lockdown, spent while the country was wracked in social and political turmoil, only crystalized the themes of the record. The band’s third full-length album Alibi, as frontman Dylan Von Wagner explains, is a response to the US’s dystopic cultural civil war. The band have now returned with the latest single from the record, “Renegade,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Renegade” charges forward with jittery energy, driven by an amphetamine-fuelled bass line, pulsing synths, and skittering drums. Meanwhile, Von Wagner trembles and yelps through impeccable Paul Banks-esque vocals, alternating between delightfully defiant attitude and anxious vulnerability. The result lands somewhere between art rock and post punk, delivering a burning call to action amidst the current cultural decay. The accompanying video further captures the manic energy of the track, featuring Von Wagner dressed as a beatnik objectifying a young Iggy Pop lookalike, the vision of the titular “renegade.”

Von Wagner says of the track and video, “After spending two nights in jail for trespassing in an empty warehouse, we found the “right” one and performed an exorcism! Thank you, and please just listen.” Check out the song and video below and watch for Alibi, coming later this year.