Philadelphia-based indie rock band NOTHING have released a new music video for their song “Blue Line Baby,” off their upcoming album Dance On The Blacktop which is set to be released on August 24. The tracks lyrics discuss the Kensington/Frankford section of North Philadelphia during the early 1990s, amid an opioid outbreak.

“Blue Line Baby,” makes several references to Philadelphia, including the Cambria hotel, and the lehigh trees that populate its surrounding areas. Cambria serves as the main protagonist of the song, while other landmarks such as Rolling Hill park are given more obscure references throughout its lyrics.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet, inspired the Mark McCoy directed music video, with Cambria serving a similar role to the character Ophelia, who committed suicide via drowning, after suffering with the distress caused the death of her father Polonius and the abandonment of her titular lover Hamlet.

The video opens with Cambria, portrayed by model Sara Skinner in a white Maison Margelia dress, walking off into the wilderness, while the four band members appear to drowning in a pond. Cambria then ventures into the woods and pond, laying down in it as she begins to submerge her entire body into the water. Many of the video’s visuals utilize Sir John Everett Millais interpretation of the famous Hamlet scene.

Dance on the Blacktop is set to be NOTHING’s first album since lead singer Domenic Palermo was diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease. Palermo was diagnosed with  the disease after being assaulted after a show in Oakland, California in 2015.

Prior to the incident, several men asked Palermo to use his cellphone, which he refused to do. Upon the refusal the men approached and then beat Palermo, causing him to suffer a fractured eye socket, skull, and spine, in addition to permanent brain damage.

Despite this, Palermo still ended up recording an album, Tired of Tomorrow, a year later, on Relapse Records. NOTHING had previously been on the Collect record label during the album’s recording, however, the band soon dropped the label and rejoined Relapse after discovering that Collect was partially funded by “pharma bro,” and convicted felon Martin Shkreli. Shkreli infamously inflated the price of anti-parasitic drug Daraprim, which was used in some cases to treat HIV, from $13.5o per pill to $750 per pill. While Shkreli was convicted of two counts of securities fraud, it had nothing to do with Daraprim’s price increase, which is still considered legal in the US.

The upcoming album will discuss many themes that have afflicted Palermo’s life, from the pain induced by his CTE to his violent past when he had spent two years in jail for aggravated assault and attempted murder. According to a press release Dance on the Blacktop “spews songs of heightened confusion, anxiety, paranoia, depression, and chronic battles with physical pain.”

The upcoming album will also be produced by John Agnello, who has worked with Sonic Youth, The Breeders and Dinosaur Jr. NOTHING will also be touring the US and UK beginning September 7 at the Rock N’ Roll Hotel in Washington DC.

US Tour Dates:

9/07: Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel
9/08: Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
9/09: Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
9/11: Detroit, MI – The Shelter
9/12: Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
9/13: Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
9/14: Lawrence, KS – Record Bar
9/15: Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
9/18: San Jose, CA – The Ritz
9/19: San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
9/20: Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater
9/22: San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
9/23: Phoenix, AZ – The Rebel Lounge
9/25: Dallas, TX – Club Dada
9/26: Austin, TX – Mohawk
9/27: Houston, TX – Secret Group
9/29: Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
9/30: Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
10/05: Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
10/06: Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
10/07: Boston, MA – The Sinclair