New York City-based rock band Nada Surf has just released a video for their new single “Second Skin.” The single comes from their newest LP Moon Mirror, available now. This is the first album from the band in four years and marks the 30th anniversary of the band’s debut single “The Plan” / “Telescope.”

Frontman Matthew Caws says the song “is about trying to be natural, how it can be a struggle at times, how there might be periods when you feel there’s part of yourself that you want to hide. It’s also about the way that can change over time. There were times in my youth when being fully seen, or even just more seen, would have felt too uncomfortable. Certainly when you’re really young, you need to be able to tell older people when you have a need or when you’re in distress so they can help you. But I’ve found as I’ve gotten older that some alarm systems have been shutting themselves off. Maybe at some point your body doesn’t believe you’re so vulnerable anymore, that there’s no more danger, that you can just enjoy because you’ve made it ok this far.”

Watch the new music video–directed by Spencer Gentz–below:

The video begins with a delivery man dropping a package in front of the door of an apartment. He knocks, wheels the dolly away and the music begins as the door is opened. Immediately, the notes from Matthew Caws’s guitar and Daniel Lorca’s bass begins to intertwine with the clear notes from Ira Elliot’s drums. The notes from Louie Lino’s keyboard hide in the background but are really prominent in the bridge of the track.

As Caw sings about how he “[doesn’t] want to be someone else,” the man in the music video opens the box outside his door and withdraws the controls for a robot that looks exactly like him, from a company called Second Skin. The robot–portrayed by Luke Jones–stares at himself in the mirror and mouths the lyrics with Caw’s vocals; as the story progresses, it’s revealed that other people in the same building have been buying androids from Second Skin as well. The main robot does his best to live up to the standards of Second Skin, but finds himself falling short. He begins to fall in love with a female robot servant–played by Jessica Morgan–and runs the risk of becoming self aware. The female robot takes a walk through the neighborhood and observes the life around her, with a cameo from bassist Lorca as she explores and develops awareness for the world. As the female robot fears her owner turning her off for good, the two androids run away from the apartment complex and steal a car; they drive until they reach the coast and the story ends with a shot of the two of them staring at the horizon. The video ends with a second cameo from drummer Ira Elliot.

Nada Surf will be launching the first legs of their 2024 Moon Mirror tour on October 2 in Washington, DC. Their tour dates include a set at the When We Were Young music festival in Las Vegas; supporting them on their tour is their New West labelmate Office Dog. Information about the tour can be found here.