New York DIY hero Alex Orange Drink has shared his new single “Queen Victoria” (feat. Conor Oberst), a reflection on the loss of the pre-smartphone era and a conversation about self destruction & mental health. Alex Orange Drink has also announced his new album Victory Lap (#23) will be released on May 9 via Conor Oberst’s record label Million Stars.
About the song, Alex Orange Drink explains: “‘Queen Victoria’ is about the symbolic death of the pre-smartphone world. Trying to get through to someone who’s got their ‘cell’ out. It’s about walking a dangerous path toward self destruction. My grandmother who died by suicide in 1970 appears on the single artwork, and Conor Oberst is featured on the song.”
He continues, “Before I got sick, I spent the winter of 2023 with Conor in LA. During those three months we wrote a lot of songs together – some of which were released on the newest Bright Eyes album ‘5 Dice All Threes.’ One night, I played him this track and he loved it. Together, we worked on a second verse for him to sing. When I got home from LA, around spring, I decided to deal with a persisting discomfort in my face that I could no longer ignore. I went to various doctors in order to get to the root of what I thought was a dental issue. One month later, I collapsed after a bike ride in Prospect Park. Two weeks later, The So So Glos played Bowery Ballroom. The show was sandwiched between two surgeries. The second of which, the biopsy, revealed a large T4 cancerous tumor. Adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer. The waiting game began. During this time Conor would call me regularly, and this song would play in my head.”
“The video features found footage of my family’s home movies. Grandparents in Brooklyn in the ‘40s, my dad at the reopening of Ebinger’s Bakery in the ‘70s, old New York streets, American flags & hula hoops. Some nostalgic channel surfing – an empire passing by.”
Victory Lap (#23) is the third solo release from Alex Zarou Levine, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Brooklyn punk band The So So Glos. Recorded in the midst of his intensive treatment for a rare and serious cancer, these 10 songs capture the intensity of his experience while maintaining an undercurrent of defiant optimism.
How are you feeling about Alex Orange Drink’s single “Queen Victoria”?
