Alan Palomo (aka Neon Indian) is back with new music, but he's shaking off some of his bright, sunny vibes and dipping his toe into political commentary with his new song "Toyota Man."
Born in Monterrey, Mexico, this is Palomo's first song in Spanish, so it's fittingly a pro-immigration tune highlighting his family's path to American citizenship.
"Though my music has always been generally apolitical, I realized when recording this song that it was impossible to write biographically (in the rhetorical context of the Trump administration) without being entirely that: political," he says of the track. "The story of my family, which before felt commonly American, was suddenly politicized."
The video, released Thursday alongside the track, is playful a humorous, featuring a piñata version of Donald Trump. The clip was shot along the U.S.-Mexico border, through Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, San Antonio, and Austin, following a similar path to Palomo's own journey to America.
While the shimmering, synthy gloss of past Neon Indian songs is definitely present, the message this time is understandable if not timely. At least, in the video version, things do not end well for piñata Trump.
See the video for "Toyota Man" below.