Rebecca & Fiona, 'Union': First Look

 May 08, 2013 1:14 PM EDT

With commentary from the girls, five things to look for in the first clip from the Swedish duo’s sophomore album.

CODE’s favorite bottle blondes are back. Rebecca & Fiona’s first single and clip from their as-yet-untitled sophomore album -- following up the dreamy psychedelic dance-pop of 2011 debut “I Love You, Man” -- is everything we’ve come to expect from the dynamic duo: Hooky yet strange, glamorous yet dark, and completely of their own design. Watch it below:

1 

Building Keys

“Union” opens up with grand piano octaves, building with a smudgy trance synth riff and plucked-string keys before a proper, sweeping drop. But the R & F tell us over email that the album overall will have “a less EDM vibe to it. [It] has a more ’80s, darker touch.”

2

Groovy Moves and Style

The duo opens the clip doing ‘70s disco dances in white go-go dresses, hair properly coifed. But from the outset -- even before they see foreboding visions in their Japanese tea (2:08) -- it’s clear that there’s something nefarious afoot. “We try to tell a story that is both political and glamorous because we like to be both political and glamorous,” they say. “And fun.”

3

A Robot

The world is robot-happy right now thanks to Daft Punk. But the robot is “Union” and not the friendly kind, attempting to strangle our heroines (no worries, they get away). “The robot represents the things happening to the city of Stockholm nowadays,” says R & F. We’re not up on our local Swedish politics, but the lyrics “Restless running over streets / Controlled by blank minds / burning everything we built”  seem to indicate a new regime making things generally suck.

4

Dee D Inspiration

Sticking with that glamorous/political rule, the boxy “Union” robot is an homage to Eurodisco diva Dee D Jackson and her very strange 1978 video “Automatic Lover”.

5

No, That's Not PandaDaPanda

The role of the homicidal robot was definitely not played by Rebecca's boyfriend, Swedish artist PandaDaPanda, who doesn’t have a thing for threatening headware.