Hear Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ New Trip-Hop ‘Under the Earth’ Remix
Yeah Yeah Yeahs released a trip-hop-styled remix of 2013’s “Under the Earth” to promote water sanitation charity Drop in the Bucket. Producer Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Ming Vauze pepper the Mosquito track with pulsating synths and a drum groove around Karen O’s brooding vocals.
The track is featured in a video highlighting nonprofit Drop in the Bucket, which helps construct water sanitation systems at schools throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. “Access to clean water is a basic human right,” the video states. “Yet for 663 million people in the world, water is a long walk away – a walk that often takes 3-6 hours every day. Children, particularly girls, spend hours every day fetching water. These are hours that could be spent in school. Every 20 seconds a child dies from drinking unsafe water.”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs went on hiatus in 2014 after finishing the tour behind their fourth album, Mosquito. In 2015, Karen O told Rolling Stone she was “in the full-time job of [motherhood] at the moment,” focusing more on her personal life than music. “It’s just waiting to see how everything works out with starting a family and seizing the moment when it strikes,” she said.
In April, the trio reunited for a one-off performance at New York’s Dream Hotel during a party honoring photographer Mick Rock. The band, joined by TV on the Radio bassist Jaleel Bunton and keyboardist Money Mark, performed Lou Reed and David Bowie covers during the sprawling set.