Santigold is back and at the height of her power. On her new track, “High Priestess,” Santigold takes her spot on the throne, commanding others to bow down.
Eclectic as always in her craft, “High Priestess” takes inspiration from rock and hip-hop, creating an electrifying sound inimitable by others. The track marks her first proper release since her 2018 dancehall-inspired mixtape, I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions and was recorded remotely during the pandemic.
“I had started working on this beat and I didn’t have anything in mind for a topic, I just knew I wanted to do a sort of rap punk song (as dangerous as that sounds),” Said Santigold in a statement. “My buddy Ray Brady and I started working on something, trying to add in all the elements that made sense, kicks, subs, new wave synths. Boys Noize ended up bringing something super cool that really built the song and made me get even more excited about it. It was coming along quickly, until it wasn’t. The punk rock energy, the angst, that I wanted to come across wasn’t quite there. I tried adding guitar and a live drum kit, and that was a big red buzzer ‘X.’ I ended up tagging in Psymun (Simon Christensen) who brought in Ryan Olson, and they brought the final missing element. The energy I was looking for couldn’t be the old version of punk rock, it had to be the future sound of punk rock. They brought the angst, the push and pull that was missing, but it was very fresh sounding and totally unexpected. It all came together in a way I could never have imagined when we started, but it was exactly what I set out to make.”
In the song’s accompanying visual, directed by Frank Ockenfels, Santigold dances on the sidewalk of a highway at night, lit up in large clothing and lighting fixtures.
Check out “High Priestess” above.
Santigold is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.