Boy Harsher have announced new album ‘Get Mean’ with the hypnotic single ‘Hard Beat’, check it out below.
The record is set to arrive on September 18 via Atlantic, and is the first album from the electronic duo since 2019’s ‘Country Girl Uncut’ and the 2022 soundtrack to The Runner. Visit here to pre-order.
Across the 12-songs, Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller hone in on themes of grief, heartbreak, loss and survival, and document what it feels like to come out of a painful chapter feeling stronger than before.
The album is set to feature their recently released single ‘Jeans’, and today (Tuesday July 21) the group have shared another taster in the form of ‘Hard Beat’.
Packed with thumping synths and haunting vocals, the single tackles themes of surveillance, deviance, and trauma, and comes with an eye-catching music video directed by Boy Harsher alongside cinematographer Owen Smith-Clark.
“Take the wheel and lost control/ trust me once/ let’s make it real,” sings Matthews, building towards the intoxicating, slightly unsettling chorus.
Work on ‘Get Mean’ stems back to early 2024, when after a number of well-received releases and ambitious collaborations, the two members of Boy Harsher ended their romantic relationship.
In the wake of the breakup, they took time to reflect on and come to terms with past experiences of turmoil, familial loss, and creative block, and revisit the band with a new outlook.
While previous releases leaned into the duo’s love of classical synth textures and soul-bearing lyrics, this time around they are introducing new sounds into the mix – embracing detuned pads, new romantic guitar textures, and cheeky pop inflections.
The end result, Matthews said, was borne from “what I had to give during the most extreme period of my life”.
The ‘Get Mean’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Ronny’
2. ‘Jeans’
3. ‘Break Me’
4. ‘Tough Luck (When You Don’t Call)’
5. ‘Faulty’
6. ‘Coming Home’
7. ‘Hard Beat’
8. ‘Ice Pick (Walk Away)’
9. ‘Ivy’s Spiral’
10. ‘Pray 4 Me’
11. ‘Falling ~’
12. ‘Bleed’
Following the album release, the duo will be embarking on a North American headline tour later this year. Shows kick off in Hudson on September 25, and continue with stops in Montreal, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New Orleans and more over the autumn. Visit here for tickets.
As well as gearing up for the new tour and album, Boy Harsher are also working on a debut feature film, The Lonely Woman, which stars Chloë Sevigny, FKA twigs, and Sturgill Simpson.
