Video: Illuminati Hotties, ‘MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA’

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Illuminati Hotties (Photo by Mariah Russek)

Ever since Illuminati Hotties’ “tenderpunk” first tenderized our hard heart, it’s been a wild ride for the force of nature behind the project, singer-songwriter-producer Sarah Tudzin.

The short version: After being embraced for their 2018 debut “Kiss Yr Frenemies,” Illuminati Hotties were zooming toward their second album, only to have problems with their label, Tiny Engines. “It felt like any momentum came to a screeching halt,” Tudzin said, but, still owing the label a second record, she made one — the almost comically eclectic and improbably good mixtape “Free I.H: This Is Not the One You’ve Been Waiting For.”

Not improbably, fans loved it.

Tudzin called “Free I.H.” an “exercise in letting go of the inner editor for me.”

Her inner editor has not regained control, if Illuminati Hotties’ new single “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA” (you’ll have to hear her sing it) is any indication. It’s power-pop on a post-hardcore bender, which makes it perfect for IH’s new label home.

Today, Tudzin announced she is partnering with long-running L.A. label Hopeless Records on her own imprint, Snack Shack Tracks. “With everything that has brought me to where I am, I knew that the next time around I needed to seek support from folks who trusted me — who believed not only in Illuminati Hotties, but also in myself, and my curative vision as a creator at large,” she says. “Hopeless is the perfect collaborator for IH and beyond. I am thrilled, grateful, and looking forward to an expansive future for the music that we’re all total nerds about.”

As for the single, Tudzin says, “Somebody told me my music is too ‘cute’ to take seriously. So I wrote them a love letter. I hope they’re laughing their patoots off.”

(“Patoots,” though.)

She gets slimed in director Katie Neuhof’s video, which “pays tribute to the iconic music video for D’Angelo’s ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel)’ while demanding space for the subversion of male sexuality and flipping the dynamic of power throughout its three slimy minutes,” Tudzin says.

||| Watch: The video for “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA”

||| Previously: “Will I Get Cancelled…,” live at the Moroccan Lounge, “Ppl Plzr,” “I Wanna Keep Yr Dog,” “Cuff,” “(You’re Better) Than Ever”