LCD Soundsystem share new single ‘X-Ray Eyes’
A certain bunch of New Yorkers must’ve heard that The Dare, the besuited STD Soundsystem himself, has been sniffing around their patch. With news of a new kid in town spreading, the electro-indie pioneers LCD Soundsystem are back with their first new music since the White Noise soundtrack in 2022 with the single ‘X-Ray Eyes’.
They’ve kept things minimalist for their comeback track, with a boinging raygun sound being met with a repeated refrain about, well, X-ray eyes. Mutated steel drums form the staple synth sound for the song, as things are looped on a sequencer, allowing for various other flourishes to spurt in and freshen up the mix.
However, on early listens, you could argue that the mix isn’t quite freshened up enough. The song is a creditable effort with its place in the world, mainly in the background of New York loft parties, but it feels a bit like generic ‘cool music’ that a fictional band in an indie movie starring Logan Lerman from 2018 might play. Nevertheless, you can’t say it isn’t catchy.
In other words, it’s a solid offering, but it feels a touch like a pastiche of LCD Soundsystem, a self-cannibalisation of their own influence to the point that the rattling off of vague, random assets an unknown woman possesses in the coda feels almost close to a parody of LCD played forward into the post-punk era. In short, it doesn’t feel like the grand culmination of seven years of work but an offering to keep their hat in the ring.
The track was dropped without much fanfare on NTS Radio, and so far, the band are yet to put out a press release accompanying the single to confirm whether this means there’s a new album in the offing. At the time of writing, the track isn’t even available on streaming services. Thus, we’re left in the dark about the fate of the enigmatic Manhattan band, as is their modus operandi.
They’ve certainly been busier of late on the road, however. We caught them at All Points East and Glastonbury last year as they graced the masses with their funky brand of ‘sad boy house’. At the latter, our very own Lucy Harbron wrote: “Out of all of the acts of the day, LCD had, without a doubt, the most dedicated audience. With over 2000 acts to see, it can often be the case that the majority of a crowd has simply found themselves at a certain stage at a certain time and merely listened half-heartedly, but with James Murphy and his cronies, most were loyally transfixed.”
Concluding: “So, by the time ‘All My Friends’ kicked off, it was not only a musical climax but an emotional one too. In short, it was life-affirming.”
In short, therein lies the problem with ‘X-Ray Eyes’: It’s not quite life-affirming; it’s just a fairly decent house bop with not much more than the title to utter.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.