It’s been fourteen years since the Beastie Boys came to a natural end with the death of Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch. Now one of his two surviving bandmates, Mike D, has announced his debut solo single.
It’s called Switch Up and is already out now. Apparently, the track started out as an experiment between Mike and his two songs Davis and Skyler Diamond, who have their own indie dance outfit Very Nice Person. As you can tell, there’s a bit of drum n’ bass influence to the track, but it’s embellished by a melodic bassline, plenty of synth bleeping and guitar squalling and, towards the end, some weepy strings.
There is no indication yet whether Switch Up is part of a larger album project. Diamond is playing some live dates though, at the Sid The Cat Auditorium in South Pasadena, California on May 10 and two nights at the Xanadu Roller Arts in Brooklyn on May 22 and 23. It’s not known yet whether Very Nice Person will accompany him on those dates.
Since the death of Yauch in May 2012, the two surviving Beastie Boys have been fairly quiet. Mike D and Ad Rock published a memoir of the band, Beastie Boys Book, in 2018, which was made into a 2020 documentary, directed by Spike Jones.
There have been some reissues of the band’s classic albums and a greatest hits package, but no new music from either. Until now.
