Joseph Hudak
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New Translations preview their forthcoming Yves Rothman-produced album with new song "Modern Lovers." Alex Berger* Earlier this summer, New Translations were among the scene-stealers at a rock & roll takeover during CMA Fest in Nashville. The Music City indie-rock band, led by the charismatic frontperson Oliver Pierce, brought their synth sounds and kinetic stage show to Jon Bon Jovi’s honky-tonk downtown for a daylong bill headlined by Cage the Elephant. It was as weird, and invigorating, as it sounds.
On Friday, New Translations debuted one of the new songs they’ve been working on with producer Yves Rothman (Blondshell): “Modern Lovers” is a blast of hypnotic synth-pop that finds Pierce craving a time when life seemed uncertain. Surprisingly, he’s talking about the pandemic, when he and his friend circle were fantasizing about escaping to Thailand.
“It’s a song about the distance between who we were then and who we are now: the shortcomings, the vices, and the miles of hindsight,” Pierce says in a statement. “‘Modern Lovers’ is about longing — not to be who we were then, but for the feeling that anything was possible, whereas now so much of life feels so pathed out and certain.”
The track, which calls to mind the Killers and other kingpins of synth-rock, is also a preview of New Translations’ forthcoming album, the follow-up to their 2025 debut Vacation.
