Serj Tankian’s streak of weekly new singles continued into its penultimate week today with the release of the single “Sonic Expulsions.” The new release from the System of a Down frontman is a part of his ongoing project Covers, Collaborations & Collages. “Sonic Expulsions,” the second-to-last song to be released for this project, can be found on Tankian’s YouTube channel.

The new song taps into a side of Tankian’s work that might be familiar to fans of System but has been currently mostly absent from this project – a side that is more lighthearted and sometimes goofy while still blending some elements of rock and metal. The song bounces between whimsical and upbeat drumbeat sections with rapidly spoken lyrics from Tankian to more drawn out lines with a booming guitar solo. The whiplash between the two sections on top of the delivery and contents of some lyrics creates an atmosphere that sometimes feels a bit zany, in a way that is a nice change of pace for the rest of this project.

As always, Tankian shared additional details via posts to his YouTube and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.  Speaking on “Sonic Expulsions,” he first explains it was written and recorded in New Zealand about a decade ago. Beginning with acoustic guitar, he added further instrumentation and later the vocals, which were done in a single take in a stream of consciousness style. Tankian states the lyrics are “about love, but it’s really silly!”

“Sonic Expulsions” is the ninth track off Covers, Collaborations & Collages. The album will be released next week on Friday, October 24th, alongside the final single release.