Third Eye Blind have released their new song “Cop vs. Phone Girl” from their upcoming EP, We Are Drugs. You can stream the song below.
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“Cop Vs. Phone Girl” takes a mid tempo, rhythmic sing along to tap on police brutality and race that is both up nightmarish and uplifting. Written by frontman Stephan Jenkins, the song’s impact is all the more intense because the absurdity that it depicts is an accounting of an actual assault. In a testament to Jenkins’ songwriting mastery, he still finds a way to chide hope into a dark narrative, and creates something anthemic out of viscously specific details.
The narrative behind the track is about the attack last year at Spring Valley High in South Carolina on a student by a campus police officer.
It’s a scene Jenkins understood due to his time working briefly, after college, at a school for emotionally disturbed children. “Sometimes, we had to restrain kids who were having violent outbursts,” Jenkins recalls. “We were trained not to frighten them much less cause harm. The contrast really hit home to me just how surreal and insane this incident was.”
_We Are Drugs_, the follow-up to last year’s Dopamine, was recorded in late-Spring during a week-long intensive at renowned Sonic Ranch, a vintage recording studio secluded in the midst of a pecan ranch in Texas borderland. Jenkins: “It allowed us the focus to take songs sometimes all the way from inception to completion in continuous sessions. We also allowed ourselves freedom on We Are Drugs from any definitions or guidelines of what we were supposed to be, we just took joy in getting in a big room together and letting music happen and then chasing it around wherever it led us. It is one of the most freeing recording experiences I have had.”
The artwork for We Are Drugs, a collaboration between Jenkins and photographer Travis Shinn, takes it inspiration from Dali’s Un Chien Andalou. “It’s simple really, says Jenkins “everything that has been happening to us and around us these days has been pretty goddamn surreal.”
“Cop Vs. Phone Girl” is part of a long line of Third Eye Blind songs with progressive intent, all which started with the 1997 classic, “Jumper” – a noir about acceptance of gay youth in the face bullying. Additional songs illustrating Jenkins’ politically-focused wordplay include “One In Ten,” “About to Break,” “Red Star,” “Danger,” “Don’t Believe A Word,” “Slow Motion,” “Non-Dairy Creamer” and “If There Ever Was A Time.” Stream Third Eye Blind’s brand new song, “Cop Vs. Phone Girl,” HERE.
Coinciding with the release of the song, Third Eye Blind also recently announced its upcoming international tour dates and summer festival appearances. A full listing of dates can be found below and more information on tickets can be found via Third Eye Blind’s official website, http://www.thirdeyeblind.com.