Today, Ought share “Disgraced in America,” the second preview from their third long player Room Inside the World, out February 16. The song is accompanied by an animated video directed by Heather Rappard, involving glycerine as paint thinner and painstakingly shot in 15-second increments over the course of three weeks. “Breaking a song down into its tiniest parts actually leaves lots of room to improvise and really consider how to describe it visually,” says Rappard. “I wanted to create a video that morphed and visually changed in the same ways the song does: in the beginning, working with the bright guitar sound and the illustrative qualities of the lyrics, then moving into the abstract at the bridge’s breakdown, to the ending where it completely changes, becoming much noisier and darker with the percussion, spacey synths, and ringing guitar hits.”

Ought’s Tim Darcy on the video:

The term “microcosm” came to mind when I read Heather Rappard’s accompanying description for “Disgraced in America.” The way they worked on the song, second by second, opened up deeper layers than we’re used to. Anyone who’s tried to memorize a lyric or a melody will know how unseen worlds can open up when you dig in like that. Songs can last for days, years, fucking centuries, and then you pull your head out of the brook and maybe 15 seconds have passed.

We are completely honored and rocked by Heather and Mike’s work, and hope it can take you a few layers deeper, where the clock ticks a bit slower and the drum fills are as big as billboards. Definition of microcosm on dic-tion-ary-dot-com? “A little world.”

Recorded at Rare Book Room in Brooklyn with producer Nicolas Vernhes (Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Silver Jews), Room Inside the World is described as an album that explores themes that have always concerned the band—identity, connection, survival in a precarious world—but with a bolder, more nuanced sound palette.

Ought live dates

Mar 06 Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount^
Mar 07 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Mar 08 Detroit, MI – Deluxx Fluxx^
Mar 09 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall^
Mar 10 St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway^
Mar 11 Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room^
Mar 17 Mesa, AZ – Underground%
Mar 18 Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room%
Mar 19 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom%
Mar 20 San Francisco, CA – The Independent%
Mar 22 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios%
Mar 23 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey%
Mar 24 Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt%
Mar 26 Calgary, AB – The Palomino%
Mar 27 Saskatoon, MB – Amigo’s Cantina%
Mar 29 Winnipeg, MB – The Good Will Social Club%
Mar 30 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry%
Mar 31 Madison, WI – High Noon%
Apr 02 Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups%
Apr 04 Washington, DC – The Black Cat*#
Apr 05 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church*$
Apr 06 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg*#
Apr 07 Boston, MA – The Sinclair*#
Apr 20 Bristol, UK – The Exchange
Apr 21 Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Apr 22 Glasgow, UK – Stereo
Apr 23 Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds
Apr 24 London, UK – Garage
Apr 26 Paris, FR – Maroquinerie
Apr 27 Nantes, FR – Stereolux
Apr 28 Bordeaux, FR – Iboat
Apr 30 Lausanne, CH – Le Romandie
May 01 Winterthur, CH – Albani
May 02 Brussels, BE – Botanique
May 03 Cologne, DE – Bumann & Sohn
May 04 Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain
May 05 Copenhagen, DK – Loppen
May 07 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso Noord
^ w/ Snail Mail
% w/ Flasher
* w/ Cold Specks
# w/ Katie Von Schleicher
$ w/ Friendship