Rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra has released a new single titled “BOYS WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WOLVES” and stirred up some controversy with its music video. The single starts off with the band’s signature strangeness, utilizing a variety of spacey sounds and voice distortions. The track then transitions into soft vocals and guitar jamming whilst having an earworm of a chorus. Despite the creativity of the track, the music video takes a more uninspired turn. 

Many fans of the band have expressed their disappointment in the band’s use of generative AI for their music video. The video was directed by Ruban Nielson and consists of multiple AI-generated clips of gothic women in costumes, wolves and other random gothic imagery. According to the band, the single takes inspiration from Italian horror films of the 1970s and 1980s which can be noticed through the video’s vintage feel. However, some fans have expressed their shock towards the band’s decision to incorporate AI into their visuals with one commenter saying, “Thought you were so far above this its honestly heartbreaking.” Another commenter expressed similar sentiments, stating, “It WOULD have been a real cool video…All of these shots, the aesthetic, the time period being portrayed, the editing, ratio and costumes/makeup could have been made by passionate artists…” The band has since addressed the controversy in a recent Instagram statement comparing generative AI to a printer and insisting that AI does not remove the artist from its work. The full statement can be viewed here.

As for the band’s next venture, Unknown Mortal Orchestra has been promoting their next EP, CURSE which includes their latest single, “BOYS WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WOLVES”. When discussing the EP’s theme, the band’s frontman, Nielson offered a poetic description, “In the hearts of men there are sometimes goodnesses hidden but substantial, which would be the difference in times of woe between finding oneself at the mercy of a monster or a more heroic creature. For the sake of sanity we can fool ourselves into believing these silver slivers of morality are visible from the outside, even when we know they aren’t.” He continued, “In the clownish, happy-go-lucky soil of lies and chaos, a silly kind of music can grow; a senseless laughter, and we can amuse ourselves with it, however darkly. We can dance with lost minds and howl in valiant hysteria as the stormtroopers of death, confused and incredulous, pile us or those we love into their meat wagons.” The EP will be released on June 18 and can be pre-ordered here.