Polish prog rockers Riverside have released a video for their latest single, Friend Or Foe?, which you can watch below.
The new track is a single edit of the song which is taken from the quartet's upcoming album I.D.Entity which is released through InsideOut Music on January 20.
"Friend Or Foe? is one of the key songs on the new Riverside album," explains mainman Mariusz Duda. "Not only is it the opening track but, musically, it is possibly also the most courageous and intriguing one.
"One of its strong points is the lyrics which talk about how we're perceived by others, especially these days, when pretending to be someone you're not on social media has become the norm. Can we still be ourselves or do we have to keep adapting to the requirements of new algorithms? Perhaps we've already lost our identities and we're only waiting for instructions from a Siri or Alexa?
"'Who do you pretend to be?' are the first words of the song and the listener has already started searching for that 80s band it reminds them of. Is this a mere inspiration or is it provocation? Is the writer of the song pretending to be someone else or is this who he really is? Who is behind it all? The artist himself or a producer churning out music for many other artists? Is what I'm writing now a reflection of what I'm feeling or am I writing it because I want to put the song on a higher recommended playlist? And if we apply it to politics, who are the candidates? Are they credible? Trustworthy? Will they keep their promises? And finally, will we be able to trust each other one day, hear each other out and understand, or will we still keep our distance and suspicions?
"Perhaps there is a chance to build a better world, but how to recognise who is a friend and who is a foe?"
The new album will be available in standard CD and digital formats as well as limited edition deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook, limited edition 2CD Mediabook and coloured vinyl.
Riverside will play at Prognosis Festival in the UK and Netherlands in 2023 and have this far released vides for Self Aware and I'm Done With You Here.
