In January, A Place To Bury Strangers announced a new album, Pinned — their first since 2015’s Transfixiation — with an intense new track, “Never Coming Back.” Today, the band is sharing the second single from the album, “There’s Only One Of Us,” alongside a video that was directed by Elizabeth Skadden. It twists the traditional performance video by gradually dismantling the pieces that they’re playing, shaping them into a tower of instruments. Skadden makes each frame eye-popping in its ominous lighting. Here’s how she describes the video’s conception:

The inspiration comes from the foghorn bass line, military drum beat, and kamikaze guitars that intimate a war taking place. Talking to the band, I learned the ‘war’ was people under the siege of making a creative project. The work the band does to create the song is expressed in the ‘totem’ built over the course of the music video. Visually, I broke the song into its sonic elements and assigned each its own visual, such as the shifting red and blue lights. The lighting setups were inspired by a Fad Gadget performance from the 1980s, and films by Pedro Almodovar and Kathryn Bigelow.

And here’s what the band’s Oliver Ackermann had to say about the track, as well: “I am a person. We are all animals. We are all on this planet. This planet is one of billions speeding through space. It is incredible to be alive.” An abstract description, but one that fits the song, which is all mutated chants and scattered drumming

Watch and listen below.

TOUR DATES:
03/15 Austin, TX @ Side Bar (Outdoors) @ Fredricksburg All Ages Day Party (12:35PM)
03/15 Austin, TX @ Waterloo Records (3:00PM)
03/15 Austin, TX @ The Blackheart @ PledgeMusic/NoiseTrade/Current Day Party (5:00PM)
03/15 Austin, TX @ Barracuda (Outdoor Stage) @ Secretly Group Official SXSW Showcase (9:00PM)
03/15 Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Patio @ Levitation SXSW Official Showcase (12:30AM)
03/16 Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Annex @ Northern Spy/Wharf Cat/11A Records Day Party (3:00PM)
03/16 Austin, TX @ Lazarus Brewery @ Music For Listeners Day Party (5:00PM)
03/16 Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie’s @ Ad Hoc Official SXSW Showcase (1:00AM)
03/17 Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie’s @ Brooklyn Vegan Day Party (TBD)
03/17 Austin, TX @ Whole Foods Market Rooftop @ Quantum Collective Southwest Invasion (1:25PM)
03/17 Austin, TX – Sidewinder (Outdoors) @ Pianos Day Party (5PM)
03/18 Austin, TX @ Empire Garage (Garage Stage) @ Chili Dog Fest (5:00PM)
03/18 Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas (Main Stage) @ Burgermania (7:15PM)
04/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
04/18 Wiesbaden, Germany @ Alter Schlachthof
04/19 Bern, Switzerland @ ISC
04/20 Giavera Del Montello, Italy @ Bemicio Live Gigs
04/21 Bologna, Italy @ Freakout Club
04/22 Turin, Italy @ Spazio 211
04/24 Winterthur, Switzerland 0 Salzhaus
04/25 Lyon, France @ Marche Gare
04/26 Paris, France @ Le Trabendo
04/27 Amiens, France @ La Lune Des Pirates
04/28 Dortmund, Germany 0 FZW
04/29 Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix Bar
05/01 Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doonroosje
05/02 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso Noord
05/04 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega Small
05/05 Oslo, Norway @ BLAA
05/07 Berlin, Germany @ Bi Nuu
05/08 Hamburg, Germany @ Logo
05/10 London, UK @ The Garage
05/24 Washington, DC @ DC9
05/25 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
05/26 Raleigh, NC @ Kings Barcade
05/27 Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
05/28 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
05/30 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
05/31 Houston, TX @ The Secret Group
06/01 Austin, TX @ Barracuda
06/02 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
06/03 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
06/05 Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
06/06 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
06/07 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
06/09 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
06/10 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
06/12 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
06/13 Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
06/14 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

Pinned is out 4/13 via Dead Oceans.