TOPS are in their dark era and we are so here for it. ‘Falling on My Sword,’ the third single from their upcoming fifth album Bury the Key (out 22nd August via Ghostly), ditches soft-pop for moody post-punk realness. Jane Penny trades synths for guitar, while the track slinks with angsty glam. Directed by video sorceress JJ Stratford, the visual is peak retro-futurist drama—think: goths on VHS. It’s giving eyeliner and ennui. If this is TOPS’ villain era, consider us recruited.

“We were joking around quite a bit when we started writing this song, Jane was playing bass which is very out of the norm for us. It’s written from the perspective of a teen girl who thinks that everyone sucks and the societal norm of monogamous commitment is pathetic. I guess it could be from the perspective of an adult as well. We tried to lay the song out in the form of a hardcore punk/beatdown tune, with tritone power chords and a breakdown (for moshing). In the end it sounds more like a TOPS song than anything else but it was a fun diversion that led us to a cool new place.” David Carriere

Bury the Key is available to pre-order now.