Founded in Orange County before rising to greater prominence in Los Angeles, Media Jeweler are a band who have long pushed to the outer edges of the art rock scene they’ve been a fixture of for going on half a decade. From their early days sharing stages with artists like Palberta, Palm, Yonatan Gat and Anna Meredith, their dramatic, technically-adept and largely instrumental sound has been turning heads. Their mesmeric live performances initially attracted the attention of Brooklyn’s Fire Talk Records (Dehd, Mamalarky, Pure X), who released their 2015 debut $99 R/T Hawaii and their 2018 full length 1-800-SUCCEED to wide acclaim from various outlets. Three years removed from their first LP, Media Jeweler have returned to announce their third full length The Sublime Sculpture of Being Alive (due out August 13th on Fire Talk), and share the album’s first single “Helicopter.”

The new LP marks some significant changes for the band, including the addition of a new member in Graham Ulicny of The Faint and Reptar, and a shift away from their instrumental roots, with member Sam Farzin taking on vocal duties on the majority of the album’s 11 tracks. This first single, which comes with a striking video directed by Joseph Hirabayashi of the band Jo Passed, exemplifies the band’s new approach, with their forceful rhythmic ebbs and flows underpinning a David Yow-esque performance from Farzin, that details the oppressive daily presence of police helicopters in LA.

“The city of Los Angeles has the largest police helicopter fleet in the United States,” says Farzin. “The unmistakable sound of military technology blends with birdsong as accepted ambiance for the morning cup. Why?”