Alynda Segarra is releasing the new Hurray For The Riff Raff album Life On Earth, their first in five years and their first for Nonesuch Records, next month. The LP was recorded during the pandemic and produced by Brad Cook, and we’ve already heard the singles “Rhododendron” and “Jupiter’s Dance.” Now we’re getting “Pierced Arrows,” which Segarra says is “a heartbreak song, lost in the realm of memory. Being stuck in the past, and finding the rapidly changing world uncanny and bizarre. Trying to outrun trauma. Finding a meeting place between tough and tender. Memory replaying inside/beside you, triggering fight or flight responses.”

The song comes with a music video directed by New Orleans artist Lucia Honey. “We took inspiration from arthouse cinema from the turn of the millennium,” Honey explains. “Run Lola Run, Requiem For A Dream, My Own Private Idaho. We wanted ‘Pierced Arrows’ to have a gritty narrative feel but that still indulged in a surrealist aesthetic. The song lends itself to a narrative climax. The first time I heard it, I felt like I was in the middle of a brewing storm. I couldn’t escape the reference to Hurricane Ida, which hit Southern Louisiana hard in late August. This blended well with themes from Alynda’s song which is largely about running from a past that always catches up to you. Hence physical running in industrial landscapes. Metal. Trainyards. Escapism. Cold anxiety. Being stuck in a trauma loop.”

Watch and listen to “Pierced Arrows” below.

Life On Earth is out 2/18 on Nonesuch. Pre-order it here.