Kevin Bronson on August 6th, 2015

1

Ten years after they released their debut EP “Pikul,” Silversun Pickups still sound like they’re in a hurry to get somewhere. The venerable Silver Lakers — Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Joe Lester and Christopher Guanlao — today unveiled the first song from their forthcoming fourth album, “Better Nature” (due Sept. 25 on the band’s own imprint, New Machine Recordings). Aubert describes the album, produced by Jacknife Lee, as “its own quantum universe. It’s kind of unstable.” And the new song, “Nightlight,” is another example of what SSPU does well — noisy, agitated rock built on the propulsive rhythms of bassist Monninger and drummer Guanlao. “Nightlight’s” video, however, is another story. It’s a short film directed by Mark Pellington (Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam) and starring Meg Steedle (“Boardwalk Empire”). The new video quick-cuts through the protagonist’s phantasmagoric world, illuminating her multiple personas and myriad phobias and, of course, raising the ages-old question: What are Silversun Pickups doing in my room?

||| Watch: The video for “Nightlight”

||| Live: Silversun Pickups play Sept. 10 at the Observatory, with Happy Hollows opening.