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photographed by William White, edited by William White and J McClendon

To say glass beach's first single in five years has been worth the wait is a dramatic understatement. After years of covers and one-off releases for projects like the third installment of Bill & Ted, the LA post-emo band is finally kicking off the next phase of their career with the release of their latest single, "the CIA."

With elements of shapeshifting art pop, jazz, and fuzzy transmission effects highlighting their prog-rock, experimental tendencies, front person and primary songwriter J. McClendon sings about being terrified, exposed, and under surveillance within the track's shadowy but upbeat sound world. The thrilling song builds tension and confusion until it explodes into a brutal modern metal climax, flickering with glitchy production zaps and razor-sharp stops.

The accompanying music video, directed by glass beach's William White, is a compelling cinematic companion to the adventurous track. Featuring security camera footage of a run-down, guarded warehouse, viewers watch as a lone, masked figure stealthily evades security to carry out and succeed in an unknowable mission.

It's been nearly five years since the release of glass beach's 2019 debut, the first glass beach album. It has since grown a cult fanbase for its unflinching depiction of queer life as mediated through social media, oversized ambition, and scrappy yet adventurous production. Upon returning from their first tour, the band, eager to work on new material, would find their plans halted by a global pandemic. While trying and mostly failing to make progress on new music over Discord and Zoom calls, they needed help. They released "1015," a hyper pop-influenced single about the 2008 recession, wrote the song "running" as a prospect for the third Bill and Ted movie (which would ultimately be rejected), let their fans vote on songs for them to cover, and performed virtual concerts in Minecraft, all while J wrote demos at home.

These demos would finally be realized as the band moved into a house together mid-lockdown to isolate and work. The next three years proceeded as a relentless process of writing and rewriting, always attempting to serve the music and its themes while pursuing originality and avoiding anything that felt like a default choice. "It's not a matter of, 'What's the best decision?' It's, 'What is the decision that only we would make?'" says McClendon.

Check out glass beach's latest single, "the CIA," today!