MGMT share the video for their new song “Nothing to Declare,” the latest single from the duo's upcoming album Loss of life.
Directed by Joey Frank stars Inga Petry, a college student born with upper limb aplasia who uses social media to raise awareness in the disabled community. In the video, Petry travels to Paris, recording an adventure that culminates with her watching the Venus of Milos.
“When Joey first approached me about doing this project, it was the parallelism in his vision that first attracted me. “We listened to 'Nothing To Declare' as I was considering the idea for the video and I was met by the juxtaposition of beauty and melancholy,” Petry said in a statement.
“Having grown up without arms, I've been watched my whole life. In some ways, Venus of Milos has always felt analogous to my own life, and specifically to the character I play in this film. She is adored, respected and almost constantly surrounded by people, and yet she stands alone and her past is unknown. There were always questions surrounding her hands and she never had to answer or prove her worth. For my part, he has nothing to declare. Playing this character who is different, and not just because he doesn't have arms, but in the way he handles the difference and still feeds off of new curiosity was a really beautiful experience.”
Petry added: “As a person, the song and the film resonated with me in another way. At the time of the initial filming, I had just been diagnosed with Stage III Breast Cancer. This changed my personal perception of the film and pulled me away from seeing it as a way to artistically see how my character exists with differences in her environment , and made it an experience of the individual. At this point in time, for me, 'Nothing to Declare' no longer meant not having to explain your circumstances, but instead felt like a literal declaration that went through the customs of life.”
“Nothing to Declare” marks the third single – following “Mother Nature” and “Bubblegum Dog” – off Loss of lifeis expected to be released on February 23rd. In October, Rolling Stone spoke with the duo's Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser about their first LP since 2018 Little Dark Age.
“I think on almost every album we've done as MGMT, we say the same thing where we say, 'Let's keep it very simple and never have too much going on.' And then we always end up piling things up,” VanWyngarden said. “I think this time we finally found that good containment zone where I felt like things were more balanced and more confident in a way.”
“For a long time, we've had a little bit of a chip on our shoulder about not being recognized as people who do things on our own in the studio. I think for a while we wanted people to know that we can do these things,” added Goldwasser.
“I felt like it wasn't something we were fighting for on this record. The studio side was just effortless. We know how to get the sounds we want. That was a nice realization that we could come together, especially after spending some time apart, and just say, “Yeah, we know what we're doing.” We have a level of confidence that I think maybe we didn't have before.”
The 10 track Loss of Life was co-produced by the band and Patrick Wimberly and mixed by longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann. The album's “Dancing in Babylon” also boasts an appearance by Christine and the Queens, the first feature on an MGMT LP.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mgmt-nothing-to-declare-video-1234943808/