Brookyn’s psych-pop trio the Essex Green seem to have always been filled with retro vibes of bouncy, exuberant joy. The last two singles “Sloane Ranger” and “The 710″ off their upcoming album Hardly Electronic were bright and animated and cheerful and perfect for summer. As their first album since 2006’s Cannibal Sea, it appeared it was going to fit right in.

This is all to say that their new single “Don’t Leave It In Our Hands” does not match this sun-faded picture. It’s melancholy with an ominous bass line and vocals that hover low and gray. Yet their peppiness still pushes through in the repetitive chorus.

The song is charged with a fear of technology, and in the accompanying video by Kayhl Cooper cell phones are sometimes shards of glass. People look miserable, iPhones float, and I think they turn into purple goo at the end. It’s a gloomy, layered message without any clear saving light at the end of the tunnel. The line, “There’s only one way this is going to end” strikes hard. Maybe we don’t need all this power in our hands. Watch “Don’t Leave It In Our Hands” below.

Hardly Electronic is out 6/29 via Merge Records. Pre-order it here.