Exclusive video premiere of ‘Covered in Glue’ by PROBLEMS | New Album, ‘Enter The Annals’.

Plenty of people go all-in for their art. Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at Monterey Pop. The Flaming Lips released a vinyl record with some of their own blood in it. Lady Gaga had a backup dancer puke on her at SXSW. Would any of them stand shirtless on a Chicago overpass under freezing conditions while gallons of glue were poured over them for a music video? Maybe they would. So far, only PROBLEMS has achieved this feat for the release of his newest single, the aptly-titled ‘Covered In Glue’.

PROBLEMS is the brainchild of Darren Keen – a true artist inspired by bands like DEVO and Talking Heads. With a flair for the dramatic and bizarre, Keen is looking to explore the expansive horizons of pop music. Under the monikers 1manbandgod and PROBLEMS, Keen has released a dazzling collection of artpop songs on labels like Orange Milk and Illegal Art.

‘Covered in Glue’ is an eclectic and introspective journey into pop’s synthesized underbelly. As strings lead into a pensive melody, the song subverts expectation by remaining oddly sparse. And that’s the beauty of it – it takes nearly four-and-a-half minutes for the song to reach its height. As Keen’s vocals warp and twist with de-tuning, the song builds a sense of isolation and longing. As layers of background synthesizers and minimal percussion become more urgent and focused, it’s almost as if Keen is doing the opposite of peeling back layers. The song starts out vulnerable and spacious then becomes more frenetic with each passing moment. It’s a beautiful metaphor for the human condition, and how we try to cover up our weaknesses and insecurities with… well, in this case, glue.

In the accompanying video, we watch Keen get covered in so much glue it’s almost uncomfortable to watch. One can’t help but imagine the cleanup after such a sticky feat. But, Keen is one of those once-in-a-lifetime artists that is able to turn such a bizarre spectacle into a chance to speak the truth. It’s strange to get old. It’s strange to be alive. It’s strange to be here now. But, here we are anyway. Why not try something outrageous?

‘Covered in Glue’ is available now. It’ll be featured on PROBLEMS’ upcoming album ‘Enter The Annals,’ available in early May 2024.

Did the lyrics come first or the concept for the video? The two seem so tangled together that it’s difficult to tell where the song ends and the video begins!

The lyrics came first, although once I had the lyric ‘Covered in Glue’ in my head, I knew this video would be made.

You’ve released a lot of music that explores the more avant-garde side of pop. What sounds were you excited to explore with this new record?

I am really excited to be flexing my composer chops, and integrating that with pop and dance music.

I have to ask, what was the cleanup like after filming the video?

The cleanup was brutal. There was no way to get the glue off of the sidewalk, but it snowed almost immediately and took care of that for me (I live right by this bridge and got to walk past the spot for days and days. A bunch of leaves had stuck to the pile of glue). As for ME – I walked home after the shoot, still covered in glue, and my fingers were too frozen to unlock my apartment door. It was brutally cold and painful. I finally got inside and despite my best efforts got glue all over my apartment and my dog. It took me 2 days, 6 showers to clean myself completely, and several hours to clean my apartment and the equipment from the shoot, which got super messy.

What excites you about the Chicago music scene?

I knew when I moved here I was going to see amazing progressive electronic music and avant garde weird shit, which has been amazing. Truly. The big surprise for me though has been the meteoric rise of the Egg Punk stuff and just the general quality of “punk” bands here. It’s not where I get my bread buttered, but I am really enjoying seeing all these super sick devo influenced proggy punk bands…and of course my favorite band in the world Heet Deth.

Where can we find you in 2024? Are you planning to tour?

In February I will be touring New Zealand. In March and April I will be laying low preparing for the new record, and then I will be touring all of May and June in support of it. I would really like to return to Europe and am trying to find someone, or a few someones that want to book me some shows over there…my last DIY tour there was really fun but really tough.

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