Tears For Fears have shared a soothing new song from their forthcoming album ‘Songs For A Nervous Planet’.
The track ‘Astronaut’ is the second to be lifted from the record which is out on October 25 after ‘The Girl That I Call Home’. You can listen to it below.
“Emotionally it’s about this guy who doesn’t feel he belongs here and wants to be an astronaut floating out into space… a lot of people identify with the emotion of that song, that sense of alienation,” said the band’s Curt Smith in a statement.
“Once we realised that we were going to end up doing more than just one new track for this album, Roland [Orzabal] sent me the original recording of ‘Astronaut’ and I had forgotten how good of a song it was as it gives you a sense of release,” Smith added.
“It’s a horrible comparison but it’s the sorbet in between courses where you just can have a little breath and just float away. Forgive the pun but that’s the feeling the song has.”
The band also shared a live version of ‘Head Over Heels’ taken from their 1985 album ‘Songs From The Big Chair’, which you can also hear below.
The band recently defended why they chose to use AI in the design of their new album cover, which features an astronaut in a field of sunflowers.
However, fans weren’t too pleased about the apparent use of artificial intelligence tools, with one Instagram user describing it as “embarrassing”.
They confirmed that the cover was “envisioned in collaboration with” digital creator Vitalie Burcovschi. “The Songs For A Nervous Planet album artwork is a mixed media digital collage, with AI being just one of the many tools used in the creative process,” they explained.
“We wanted vibrant artwork that evoked a sense of sci-fi, futuristic themes, and an escape from what is known. The sunflowers are a joyful nod to classic Tears For Fears imagery, while the juxtaposition of the astronaut is a link to our upcoming song, Astronaut, and a sense of alienation and not belonging. We have been fans of Surrealistly’s work for a long time and knew he would be the perfect artist to bring our vision to life.”