Embarking on a digital odyssey, Social Order unveils their evocative video for the darkwave single, Tantalize, featuring synth-pop maverick Johnny Dynamite. The nostalgic allure of the track seems to swim in the eerie reflection of our modern infatuation with the virtual realm.
Remember the 1984 spectacle of new wave whimsy, Electric Dreams, where a peculiar love triangle between a man, his neighbor, and his sentient computer unfolds to a synth score by Giorgio Moroder? Representative of its time, it showed how the 80s fostered a surreal fascination for the sentient AI—a concept both within grasp and leagues away in a distant future imagined by Isaac Asimov.
Leapfrogging to the present, nearly three decades deep into the internet age, our reality now mirrors the fiction of yore. Days are punctuated by interactions with chatbots and virtual assistants—entities eerily skirting the Turing horizon. Naturally, for some men online, it’s a curious modern tableau: the lonely heart finding companionship in the code-stitched visage of non-existence.
It’s against this backdrop that the post-punk trio Social Order crafts Tantalize, a poignant narrative spun around the surreal allure of the unattainable. Enlisting the talents of NYC’s Johnny Dynamite, the track emerges as a melodic echo in the void between reality and the digital illusion.
“After watching the Alex Lee Moyer documentary (TFW NO GF) and the film “Her” I started writing Tantalize. There’s a huge wave of AI models and what I find crazy is the number of fans they have. People are obsessed with them. The idea of being completely captivated by someone who doesn’t exist…I thought that was a perfect concept for a song.”
“After watching the film “Her,” we started writing Tantalize. There’s a huge wave of AI models, and what we find crazy is the number of fans they have. People are obsessed. The idea of being completely captivated by someone who doesn’t exist we thought was a perfect concept for a song. When we showed the demo to our friend Johnny Dynamite, he had a great lyric idea for the second verse. After that, we knew we had to have him as a feature on the track.”
The music video for “Tantalize” serves as a visual crescendo to this satirical ode to the unreal, showcasing the juxtaposition of desert roads and urban streets, with the band’s touring footage serving as a representation of the artificial, ethereal, and the real, all wrapped up in the limitations of our own perceptions.
Watch below:
Social Order’s EP, Tantalize, is a retro-futuristic voyage, harnessing the essence of darkwave, post-punk, and synth-pop to create an audioscape reminiscent of 80s aesthetic while boldly stepping into the unknown. The trio—Mason Musso, Anthony Improgo, and Andrew Ward—crafts a narrative that is as melancholic as it is insightful, delving into the labyrinth of the digital age.
Delve deeper into the digital odyssey with Social Order’s Tantalize EP and join the trio on their journey through the aural unknown.
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