Interpol Conclude Two-Part Film With Fear and Desire in ‘Something Changed’

Interpol are continuing to crack open The Other Side Of Make-Believe with “Something Changed,” another single from the group’s upcoming seventh studio album out July 15. The song arrives with the concluding segment of the band’s two-part film directed by Van Alpert.

“Something Changed” builds on the premise of “Toni,” where frontman Paul Banks first encounters a young couple wrapped in confrontation with an industrial gang of dancers. This time, he isn’t observing from the distant stance of a parked car, but engaging with the pair of shaken lovers directly.

Speaking of the film segment, Banks explains: “Reality and reverie converge and our two lead characters find themselves in a kind of dream state – being pursued inexorably by an ominous figure (played by myself.) The lives of the three are intertwined in a nebula of fear, retribution, desire, and defiance.”

The couple spends most of “Something Changed” naked and on the run with Banks hot on their heels. When the chase comes to an end, the palpable sense of disconnection between all three figures permeates.

“Something changed, well I’ve got in / We all suffer the same things / We’re in the sun, like nothing,” Banks sings. “All waging the good fight / Something changed, now I’m stuck here, so defensive.”

“Something Changed” is reflective of the intimate and introspective tone of The Other Side Of Make-Believe as it reassesses an outward viewpoint on a changing world. “I’m sure you could look at a psychoanalysis, in the context of a pandemic, why an artist who typically writes morose shit might go in a different direction,” Banks told Rolling Stone while the record was being completed. “It might just be where I’m at.”