New Translations Release New Single "Modern Lovers"

Nashville alternative band New Translations has released a new single, 'Modern Lovers,' a mix of synth-pop, coldwave, and indie rock produced by Yves Rothman (Blondshell, FKA Twigs, Girlpool). The track is out now via Warner Records / War Buddha and marks the band's first new music in over a year.

'Modern Lovers' opens with thrumming synths and a four-four kick pulse beneath Oliver Pierce's echoing, nostalgia-soaked vocals before the track expands into a full-band sound featuring flanged guitar, soaring melodies, and crackling drums. 'Take me out to the Modern Lovers, on the streets where we used to feel the same,' sings Pierce, 'Tangled up in the arms of another, make me into something new / I need to feel it too.'

'This song is really a reflection on who I was and who my friends were during Covid era,' explains Pierce. 'We would talk about moving to Thailand, we were living off the government, we were making grand plans. It's a song about the distance between who we were then and who we are now: the shortcomings, the vices, and the miles of hindsight. 'Modern Lovers' is about longing — not to be who we were then, but for the feeling that anything was possible, whereas now so much of life feels so pathed out and certain.'

New Translations is part of what has been described as an insurgent non-country Nashville scene. During CMA Fest in July, the band played the Rocknite takeover at JBJ's, drawing attention from Rolling Stone, which praised 'Pierce's theatrical gift as a frontman' and noted that the group's music 'evokes the art rock of Talking Heads.' The band also performed at FloydFest last month.

'Modern Lovers' is New Translations' first new music since their early 2025 debut album Vacation, which explored a range of sounds, themes, and moods. The album included the singles 'Coldest Century,' 'Post Hang,' and 'Voided Velvet' with Michigander, and drew acclaim from American Songwriter, The Tennessean, The Luna Collective, and Celeb Secrets, which called it 'The ultimate destination for genre-blurring bops and emotional deep dives […] Vacation is more than just an album — it's a sonic home for those who feel like they don't quite fit in.'

Following a headlining run in 2025, New Translations played their biggest North American shows to date on tour with Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Before the end of the year, multi-instrumentalist Isaac Middleton crafted the score for the Hunter Doohan-starring film The Wilderness. This year, the band recorded a live set for Audiotree, which includes their version of Dido's 'White Flag,' and released a cover of the 1984 a-ha classic 'Take On Me' for the song's 40th anniversary.

About New Translations

New Translations is a Nashville quintet known for a mix of aqueous synth-pop and gauzy alt-rock. Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, FLOOD, and The Tennessean have placed the band at the forefront of an insurgent non-country Music City scene. The band has played bigger stages in recent years, including Bonnaroo and a tour with Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and played a counterprogrammed JBJ's rock takeover during CMA Fest. For 'Modern Lovers,' the band worked with producer Yves Rothman (Blondshell, FKA Twigs, Girlpool), incorporating sounds including glassine synths, post-punk basslines, and tom rolls alongside dream-rock, sophistipop, and shoegaze dynamics.

'I hope to one day reach a point where I'm settled,' Pierce adds. 'But right now, I'm chewing the bark off the trees and howling at the moon.'

Photo Credit: Alex Berger (Weird Candy)

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