Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the genre-defying project led by Ruban Nielson, has announced a new EP titled CURSE, set for release on Wednesday, June 18th via Jagjaguwar. Accompanying the news is a brand-new single and music video, “Boys With the Characteristics of Wolves,” a searing track that pulls from both spectral psychedelia and metal-edged riffage, once again demonstrating UMO’s uncanny ability to straddle the weird and the wondrous.
Directed by Nielson himself, the music video adds another eerie layer to the already unsettling track. “Boys With the Characteristics of Wolves” is classic UMO in its contradictions — experimental yet catchy, bleak yet bursting with wild, chaotic energy. It’s also one of the most abrasive songs the band has released in years, signaling a darker turn in both theme and tone.
The CURSE EP, clocking in at six tracks, draws inspiration from the ominous aesthetics of 1970s and 80s Italian horror films. It reflects what Nielson calls “these cursed times,” and spans a wide sonic spectrum — from the Sabbath-style crunch of “Boys” to the more intricate, laid-back guitar work featured on “Death Comes From the Sky.” Whether you’re thrashing in existential dread or floating in a dreamlike trance, CURSE has a mood for it.
In discussing the thematic undercurrents of the project, Nielson explains:
“In the hearts of men there are sometimes goodnesses hidden but substantial, which would be the difference in times of woe between finding oneself at the mercy of a monster or a more heroic creature.”
Nielson’s continues:
“In the clownish, happy-go-lucky soil of lies and chaos, a silly kind of music can grow… We can dance with lost minds and howl in valiant hysteria as the stormtroopers of death, confused and incredulous, pile us or those we love into their meat wagons.”
It’s a statement that reflects the EP’s absurdist and cathartic spirit — a fitting soundtrack for dancing at the edge of the abyss.
CURSE follows on the heels of IC-02 Bogotá, released just this past March, and it promises to further push the boundaries of UMO’s sound and vision. If the new single is any indication, this is a band unafraid to dig deep into discomfort and find strange beauty in the wreckage.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra continues to remind us why they’ve remained one of the most compelling acts in the indie world for over a decade — enigmatic, fearless, and always evolving.
