Out January 25, the new Sneaks album Highway Hypnosis plays on hip-hop, post-punk, and invented words to fill a gap between the feminist underground and genre-specific singles charts. Through it, Sneaks mastermind Eva Moolchan joins the resistance forged by queer black feminists who create, explore, empower, conquer, and play bass.

Today, Highsnobiety unveils a music video for “Hong Kong to Amsterdam,” the fiery closing cut off Highway Hypnosis. This video follows last week’s Paper premiere of the mellower “Money Don’t Grow on Trees” alongside an illuminating interview. Both videos were shot by Emmett Kerr-Perkinson on Bolex 16mm film while Sneaks was on tour in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. 

“Hong Kong to Amsterdam” producer Jacknife Lee, whose work with Taylor Swift, Bat For Lashes, and R.E.M. ranges from producer and writer to mixer and beyond, claims of Sneaks, “We need more artists like this” and calls the record “true and honest and clear and mighty.” (You can probably find copies of It’s a Myth, Sneaks’ last Merge release, among the record collections of Lee’s friends—for whom he personally bought copies.)

Kerr-Perkinson describes his approach to the music video for “Money Don’t Grow on Trees”:

For this video, I wanted to experiment with film’s unique ability to double expose and create surreal, dreamlike imagery. It was shot in two parts and two different countries while Sneaks toured Europe. In Cologne, Germany, Eva played around in the park and sang the lyrics in silhouette. Days later in Haarlem in the Netherlands, I double exposed the silhouette shot with trees and the ocean. The ocean footage was so striking (many thanks to my colorist Ian Bostick), I decided to bookend the piece with it.

In case you missed the album announcement earlier this month, listen to “The Way It Goes” now and pick up your copy of Highway Hypnosis on CD, LP and translucent neon green Peak Vinyl in the Merge store today! 

Sneaks has announced new dates in Philadelphia, Boston, and NYC following the official Highway Hypnosis album release at DC’s Songbyrd on February 3. Tickets for all shows are on sale now, so pick up yours today!

Sneaks on tour:
Feb 03 Washington, DC – Songbyrd
Feb 14 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church*
Feb 15 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall*
Feb 16 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom*
* w/ Cherry Glazerr

(photo: Stephanie Severance)