Clutch has begun teasing their new single "We Strive for Excellence" due out June 14. No word on a new album yet, but this will be Clutch's second single this year alongside "Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)."
Clutch dropped their first new single in four years "Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)" this April. Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon said the inspiration for the song came in 2021 when he saw schematics for the Boss Metal Zone distortion pedal being presented as 5G mind control technology (yes – it's insane). Though Fallon points out the song isn't about vaccine conspiracies, but instead became more of an homage to classic sci-fi author Philip K. Dick.
"Early in 2021, I learned the Boss Metal Zone pedal schematic was being presented as 'proof' that the Covid-19 vaccine had an electronic component to communicate with 5G cellular networks," said Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon. "It was, of course, nonsense. It sounded like a Philip K. Dick premise. I didn’t want to write a song specific to Covid-19 vaccines, so I went with the Philip K. Dick angle (again). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? came to mind (replicants, in particular, representing what is real and not real, or is there a difference at all?). The video makes no secret that this is an homage to Philip K. Dick and a future where we have distortion coursing through our veins."
