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Sep 22, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Tunng

Tunng are releasing a new album, DEAD CLUB, on November 6 via Full Time Hobby. It’s a concept album about death and grief that’s also tied to a podcast of the same name. Now they have shared another song from it, “Death is the New Sex.” They have also shared episode 4 of the podcast, which features poet, essayist, Schomburg Director, professor and The New Yorker poetry editor Kevin Young. Listen to the song and podcast episode below.

Tunng’s Sam Genders had this to say about “Death is the New Sex” in a press release:

“It’s a song about how, by challenging taboos, we might arrive at a place closer to the truth and find ourselves better able to support each other as a result.

“Whilst researching this project I’ve been struck by just how much of a taboo the subject of death is in our culture. Partly because of the ways in which people have responded when I explained what we were working on. One person was seriously worried I might be suicidal, and others clearly felt it was an odd thing to explore. Partly because of my own reactions. I often found myself nervous when talking about death or grief, or reaching for a socially acceptable way of phrasing an idea and struggling to find one. And yet, once the awkwardness has passed, I’ve also found that people are often eager to talk about how death and grief have affected their lives. Sometimes as if they’d be waiting far too long for the opportunity to unburden themselves.

“Interestingly I feel that in many modern settings people are more comfortable taking about sex than death. We’ve journeyed so far in the last 60 years when it comes to talking about sex and I think you can make a very good case for that being a good thing. I expect the average person knows more about avoiding STIs or unwanted pregnancy, and is more likely to be comfortable with the idea of sexual pleasure or their own sexuality than ever before. I’m sure a lot of good has come from that. Now it seems like people are beginning to talk about death more. Imagine if we were so comfortable talking about death that everyone in our culture had the skills to support people who are grieving or to plan for the end of life for themselves or a loved one. It seems like there’s so much to gain. Palliative care is one obvious example of how more knowledge and awareness might help people live better lives.

“The song was inspired in part by my conversation with palliative care physician and writer Kathryn Mannix and her wonderful book With the End In Mind. Lyrically the song has clearly been through the Tunng filter. I wrote the words with a fantastical, almost comic book quality in places but it’s not flippant. I think these are genuinely important ideas.”

Previously Tunng shared the album’s first single, “A Million Colours,” accompanied by an animated video. “A Million Colours” was one of our Songs of the Week.

The first episode of the DEAD CLUB podcast featured Max Porter. According to the band in a previous press release, his novel Grief is The Thing with Feathers “was the catalyst for the entire project.”

The band’s Becky Jacobs and Sam Genders produced the podcast, which speaks to “those who work in the field of death: philosophers, scientists, frontline workers, and beyond.”

Previously, Tunng released Songs You Make At Night, in 2018 via Full Time Hobby. It was the first album with the original lineup (including founding members Sam Genders and Mike Lindsay) since 2007’s Good Arrows. Its lead single “ABOP” was one of our Songs of the Week.

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