Serj Tankian, frontman of the multi-platinum Armenian-American nü-metal outfit System Of A Down, has surfaced with yet another team-up this year. For this one, he links with electronic musician and composer Brendan Angelides on a cover of David Bowie‘s 1995 song “I’m Afraid Of Americans“. Fans may already know the track through the remixed version that later featured a guest turn from Nine Inch Nails architect Trent Reznor.
Angelides, who has also recorded under the names Eskmo and Welder, is a busy screen composer whose credits include Showtime‘s “Billions“, Netflix‘s “13 Reasons Why“, and the video game “Assassin’s Creed Mirage“.
He walked through how the cover came together and what it meant to work alongside Tankian:
“I always loved Trent Reznor‘s remix of Bowie‘s original. I’ve been working on a new album for the past year and as this particular beat came together, I unexpectedly started singing those words on top. The first person I thought to collab with was Serj Tankian. Serj has been an inspiration to me forever and I’m now lucky to call him a friend. The video is built from our childhood photos. We filmed ourselves to drive the motion capture, then face-tracked, composited, and had a mosh party.”
“It’s the next single for my upcoming album Can You Feel The End Begin?. I keep thinking about what happens to creative communities during authoritarian times. It’s half of what this upcoming album is about. Can’t wait to share it with you in a couple of weeks. Out on Aug 14th.”
The cover lands as the latest single from Can You Feel The End Begin?, which arrives August 14 through Angelides‘ own Ancestor label.
For Tankian, it marks his second guest appearance of the year. Back in May he joined Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello and his son Roman Morello on the single “Adjourn It“.
