Famed singer/songwriter Johnny Jewel has released a new single and corresponding eerie video called “Surgery.” The song and clip mark another solo release for The Chromatics producer and and was released on the Italians Do It Better record label.

Released with the comforting messages “Suggested for mature audiences,” and “Sonic discretion advised,” both the tight, brooding electro-pop track and clip operate in dark territory and will certainly be a delight for fans of erotic cinema or independent horror film. The song bops its way through high-tempo beats (and flashing lights) as famed actress Glüme tackles dual-roles of both a surgeon and the surgeon’s patient, who is seen obsessing and struggling with her self-image.

According to a press release, “the clip explores the macabre catch 22 of our endless self editing in the social media age. Our starlet plays both the surgeon and the patient struggling to walk the tightrope of public image and the horror that awaits her in the mirror.”

Jewel is most famously known for his dual-role of producer and multi-instrumentalist for the electronic band Chromatics, which formed in 2001. The Portland-based group consists of Ruth Radelet (vocals, guitar, synthesizer),  Adam Miller (guitar, vocoder), Nat Walker (drums, synthesizer) and Jewel and is still very active today. The band has finished seven full-length studio albums to date and released their first two records on the Gold Standard Laboratories label before switching to the famed Italians Do It Better label for their later three. Their most recent studio effort, Closer to Grey, was released last year to widespread critical acclaim. The group has also announced plans for their next full-length studio album called Dear Tommy.

Jewel has also kept himself busy throughout the pandemic, debuting a new artistic project called Club Intl in May, which came with the brand new single “Crush.”

Photo credit: Boston Lynn Schulz