New Ra Ra Riot

With the new Jim James single and the new Ra Ra Riot "Beta Love" premiering, the new music 2013 is premiering. I really enjoyed the first Ra Ra Riot album, and "Ghosts Under Rocks" and "Dying is Fine" are some of my favorite tracks from 2008.  "Beta Love" is described by NPR Music as:

Inspired by the works of William Gibson (the inner lives of robots pop up several times, particularly in the title track heard here), Beta Love is a half-hour collection of light, tight, fizzy earworms. It's the sound of a band that's left a lot of its grandiosity behind, but Ra Ra Riot's intellectual curiosity remains intact. Compared to past songs like "Dying Is Fine" — with its gorgeous strings, E.E. Cummings quotes and dark rumination on mortality — "Beta Love" feels like an agreeably frothy trifle. But listen closely, and ideas still seep out amid the synths.

 It reminds me a bit of the last Rogue Wave. Listen to it here.  Beta Love comes out January 22.