System Of A Down‘s Serj Tankian has announced a new EP, which he is releasing through an augmented reality app.
‘Perplex Cities’ is the follow-up to the 2021 EP ‘Elasticity’ and a track will be released through the Arloopa app each week starting today (September 19) along with Tankian “appearing in the same space as the listener-viewer to explain the music and listen along.”
“I’m always trying to create new and interesting ways to connect with people via my music,” Tankian said in a statement via Rolling Stone. “We made some amazing videos for the last EP ‘Elasticity’, so I wanted to try something different for ‘Perplex Cities’. I love the idea of appearing in the room with someone listening to my music. It’s intimate, fun, and different.”
The full EP will also be released to streaming services on October 21 through Tankian’s Serjical Strike label.
Meanwhile, System Of A Down recently condemned the “evil aggression” against their home country Armenia in the wake of a recent bombing that took place along the nation’s eastern border.
Tankian – who is American-Armenian – also released the solo protest song ‘Amber’ back in June. It served as a resistance piece to the “slick theft” that he claimed to have seen in Armenia’s political elections.
Speaking previously, the singer said the track’s lyrics seemed “poignant” due to Armenians being “divided politically and socially following the devastating attack on Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey in 2020, and the continuous fallout over negotiations with those two dictatorial regimes.”
He added: “‘Amber”s message is that of unity and harmony. Those are the only truly powerful weapons of the Armenian nation.”
The tracklisting for ‘Perplex Cities’ is:
‘Pop Imperialism’
‘The Race’
‘I Spoke Up’
‘Rumi Loves His Cars’
‘Forgive Me Father’