In 2008, The Ting Tings, the precocious duo of Katie White and Jules De Martino, set the world abalze with the eccentric pop offerings found on We Started Nothing. Now, with the backing of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, the band returns with a taste off the their eagerly anticipated sophomore album.
Titled ”Hang It Up”, the track finds The Ting Tings not far removed from their first LP. The cutsey boy-girly dynamic is still there, along with the simple instrumentation scheme. Unlike some of their more electro-tinged efforts, though, this one has a straight rock groove and a funk lean to it. Their visual aesthetic is also more of the same as the song’s corresponding music video sees the band playing to a skate park before engaging in a mini-sword fight (ala their Matrix-esque fight scene in “Shut Up and Let Me Go”). Check it out below.
In an interview with Life+Times, the group said the album would be a “very primal, raw album that was honest and experimental and as always rhythm based.” Recorded in Berlin and London and Spain, songs from the former locale are “more ‘tech ‘n spacey’ and melancholic,” while songs recorded in the other two cities are “us getting out of the dark place and have a more aggressive funk sound to them.” Amazon lists the album as being released on January 16th, 2012 in the UK. We’ve reached out to the band’s publicist for confirmation and will let you know if and when we hear back.
