The legendary Todd Rundgren is gearing up to release a new solo album, White Knight, next month, and he introduced the guest-heavy collection a few weeks ago with a great Robyn collaboration. Now he’s unveiled his team-up with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and it’s just as good. It comes attached to a crisp new video. Speaking to NPR, who premiered the track, Rundgren had this to say about the song and working with Reznor and Ross:

It’s a depressing time, so sometimes depressing times call for confrontational material. Facing up to reality is a pain. And it does have a contemporary element, especially as the EPA has been taken over by disbelievers. The principal theme for me of “Deaf Ears” is, of course, the destruction we’re doing to our own habitat.

[…]

I’ve done a little bit of work with Trent Reznor before, so when I decided that I was going to do a collaborative record, he was high on my list of people to get involved. And he was terrific. He sent me essentially an entire album’s worth of ideas. I couldn’t decide at first, so I picked out two tunes, and he sent me all the multitracks to those. So I added vocals and a couple of other little flourishes, but otherwise, it was mostly what Trent and his partner Atticus Ross sent me.

Listen to the new track below.

Rundgren also sat down for a long chat with NPR’s Bob Boilen. Listen to that here:

White Knight is out 5/12 via Cleopatra Records.