Usually, I prefer listening to a song first and checking out any visuals that go along with it after, but I have to say that the video that goes along with Autre Ne Veut’s latest is absolutely mandatory viewing. It contextualizes the track in a way that makes it impossible to ignore, and provides an unsettling viewing experience on top of that. The video, which was directed by Allie Avital, features dancer Macy Sullivan wrapped around Arthur Alvin like a weight on his chest that he can’t get off. I think it symbolizes hard-to-get-rid-of childhood memories or something like that, but that’s beside the point. What matters here is how striking that image is — the closeup of Sullivan’s face as her eyes go wide and she screams out the high-pitched vocal sample is burned into your brain, and will forever pop up when you listen to this song. That’s how you make a good, effective video.

The song itself is called “World War Pt. 2,” and it comes from Autre Ne Veut’s third album, Age Of Transparency. It’s a sequel in name and theme to the closing track from his last album, Anxiety, and the ascending, sweet-sounding sample that marked the beginning of that track is repurposed and inverted into the howling screech present here. Alvin keeps the smooth R&B edges from his other tracks here, but if that pierce is any indication, this new album is going to be intense. Listen below.

Tracklist:
01 “On And On (Reprise)”
02 “Panic Room”
03 “Cold Winds”
04 “Age Of Transparency”
05 “Switch Hitter”
06 “Never Wanted”
07 “World War Pt. 2″
08 “Over Now”
09 “Get Out”

Age Of Transparency is out 10/2 via Downtown Records. Preorder it here on a new site that features a mirror camera and some words from Ashin.