Photo by Magnús Andersen

Hatari has released a new single. Relentless Scam Incorporated issued a press release, saying they are “proud to introduce the latest by award-winning sexually repressed Icelandic anti-capitalist techno-music performance art collective Hatari.”

The group made international headlines for their participation and active politicisation of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, which ended up costing RÚV 5,000 Euros. Today they announced the release of their latest single, “Klámstrákur” or “Filthy Boy.”

“With a brand new take on their notorious BDSM-inspired anti-authoritarian techno-dystopian sound and aesthetic,” the statement reads, “the group delves into more personal themes of self-loathing versus love, repression versus expression, constraint versus sexual liberation–lyrics and narrative that are as theatrical as ever.”

A hedonistic venture

The video is a wild ride. Klemens Hannigan, the angel-voiced, mullet-rocking Hatari frontman, plays the protagonist in the hedonistic venture. “He is the filthy boy, the smut addict, the self-proclaimed urchin who wallows in self-pity to the tune of Hatari’s new thong-shaking bassline.” In sharp contrast is Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson, Klemens’s “screamingly repressed masculine counterpart,” who struggles for self-love on Hatari’s ongoing quest to dismantle capitalism. In the video, he screams “you are a filthy boy!” and administers treatment to Klemens, to no effect. Klemens is a hopeless smut-addict. “I’m a filthy boy,” he agrees, but nothing Matthías does has any curative effect on his condition.

It’s directed by Klemens Hannigan and Baldvin Vernharðsson, the duo behind “Hatrið mun sigra” or “Hate Will Prevail,” Hatari’s renowned music video and ode to doomsday. Icelandic fashion designer Harpa Einarsdóttir also lends her design and stylisation in collaboration with Hatari.

You can watch the music video below right now. Look for a digital release of the song on the 8th of November, the same night the group will play at Airwaves.