Rita Indiana has shared a new single from her first album in a decade, Mandinga Times, in the form of “El Zahir.” Accompanying the single is a film directed by Indiana’s partner Noelia Quintero and was shot entirely under quarantine, using only an iPhone11 and “lots of paper mâché.” Inspired by the 1949 Jorge Luis Borges story with which the song shares the title, Indiana weaves the the originals mystical commentary on the ills of money into an entirely modern, yet ever timeless, drive at the perils of capitalism and the pursuit of wealth.
Fierce electronica and post-punk sonics are the backdrop of Indiana’s biting-lightning of a tongue, digging itself in the morbid absurdity of valuing something so material over one’s own life–even as the song’s film paints another layer of strangeness over its social commentary, using an old-school Disney aesthetic to make the point even finer.
“The Borges story is about a coin that drives a man insane after it is given to him as change at a bar,” Indiana said of the song. “It speaks of money and the shape it takes in myth, religion and life itself. An electronic gagá with post punk overtones and trap like choruses. It has a featuring by Sakari Jantti who sings in Norwegian about slaves being buried with their masters to become rich in the after life. Nonetheless it is a party anthem.”
Rita Indiana’s upcoming album Mandinga Times is set for release in July. Visit her Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
