Synth-pop stalwarts Nation Of Language are wasting no time following up last year’s debut Introduction, Presence. Today they’ve released another single from their forthcoming album A Way Forward, following “Across That Fine Line” and “Wounds Of Love.” “This Fractured Mind” is the newest and brightest; its five and a half minutes are overflowing with vibrant, colorful synths into which Ian Devaney’s hypnotic vocals blend perfectly. Read what he said about the song:

After I dropped out of college I spent a number of years delivering pizzas and waiting tables while I lived at home and tried to get a music career going. One ends up spending a lot of time contending with unrealized dreams and feeling jealousy towards those who have moved on. There’s an inferiority complex that can set in, which if unchecked, can lead down a pretty bitter and self-destructive road. This is a song for driving down that road, as indecision and longing and regret cycle together into mania, until finally, at the end, quiet acceptance and peace wash over.

As for the recording itself…For those later movements, we messed around with tape machines, running things at different speeds and sometimes backwards, talking about William Basinksi’s ‘Disintegration Loops’ and trying to see how we could achieve a similarly somber, ethereal ambiance, but in a comparatively very small space. This one in particular serves as a good example of how, on the album as a whole, we wanted to find a balance between steady motorik endlessness and more spacious ambient moments.

Listen to “This Fractured Mind” below.

A Way Forward is out 11/5.