Protomartyr takes aim at excessive patriotism on new single Exalted Eagles

With 'Exalted Eagles', Protomartyr shares the third and final preview of Hotel Usona, the new record coming out on Friday, September 25. The Detroit band previously released the singles 'Sounds We Cannot Hear' and 'Feed The Sewer', and now wraps up the run to release with a menacing track that takes direct aim at the runaway patriotism deeply embedded in American society.

The theme fits seamlessly into the conceptual framework of the album as a whole. Hotel Usona imagines America as a dilapidated hotel where a different social problem lurks behind every door, ranging from deportations to domestic violence and the rise of artificial intelligence. 'Exalted Eagles' focuses specifically on the way freedom and equality all too often have to give way to money, incarceration, and male supremacy, according to frontman Joe Casey.

The track is packed with deliberately chosen American symbolism. The eagle from the title is not only the national bird of the United States but also features prominently on the country's Great Seal. The reverse side of that same seal bears the Latin motto 'Annuit cœptis', a detail that echoes through the repeated line 'He approves our undertakings' before the song builds to an unsettling chant of 'He approves us!'. Casey draws on that iconic imagery not to glorify his country, but to systematically chip away at its inflated sense of national self.

Casey himself described the single as 'the last taste from Hotel Usona before it comes out on Friday', adding that listeners who still aren't convinced two thirds of the way through the album should just take the Latin motto to heart. For anyone wanting to see the band live, Protomartyr plays Brussels' Botanique on February 20, 2027, which is a very manageable trip for Dutch fans.