Serj Tankian System Of A Down
[Photo by George Tonikian]

Serj Tankian drops scrapped SOAD song "Elasticity" off of his new solo EP

As promised, Serj Tankian has released his new song “Elasticity,” off of his upcoming solo EP that is full of scrapped System Of A Down material.

On Friday, Tankian debuted a poignant new music video for the EP’s title track that offers a glimpse into his new solo project.

Read more: Humans may get Elon Musk’s brain chips that stream music implanted soon

For years now, System Of A Down fans have been patiently waiting for a new album. However, all the way back in 2018, Serj Tankian said that the only way the band would put out a new album is if it felt right. Shortly after, System Of A Down bassist Shavo Odadjian revealed that the new music they have “tops everything we’ve done” in the past. However, the band continued to remain deadlocked on making their new album happen. Then, nearly a year later, Daron Malakian explained that the creative differences between the band members were the main reasons SOAD have yet to put out a new record.

Although System Of A Down returned with their first new music in nearly 15 years back in November, there’s still no sign of a new full-length album insight. Now, Tankian is taking some of those scrapped System Of A Down songs and releasing them on his own.

On Mar. 19, Tankian is putting out his new solo EP Elasticity, a title that is actually a play on System Of A Down’s widely successful 2001 album Toxicity. The 5-track release includes songs Tankian originally wrote with System Of A Down in mind.

Read more: DE’WAYNE unleashes lively new video for “I Know Something”—watch

“When I conceived possibly doing another record with the guys from System of a Down a few years back, I started working on a set of songs that I arranged in rock format for that purpose,” Tankian says. “As we weren’t able to see eye to eye on the vision going forward with a SOAD album, I decided to release these songs under my moniker.”

Last year, Tankian told Rolling Stone just what fans can expect to hear on this new five-track solo EP.

“So these songs, I decided to finish them myself and release them,” he said. “And they are really interesting and beautiful songs — going from really heavy type of System-esque type of music to really beautiful, ballady — including pianos and string arrangements and stuff like that. So, it’s quite diverse for just five songs. And thematically, it’s quite diverse as well — a song about terrorism; a song about protests in Armenia years ago; a song about my son Rumi, kind of also cut with the poet Rumi, in a way — it’s an homage to the poet Rumi and his namesake, basically, in a way. And a few other pieces. So it’s kind of all around the place, as everything I do is.”

Read more: Tom Holland just commented on if ‘Spider-Man 3’ has multiple Peter Parkers

Now, Tankian has debuted a moving new video for the EP’s title track. The video, which stars Sasha Bortich and was directed by Vlad Kaptur, offers a massive preview of Tankian’s new solo project.

Pre-orders for Elasticity are available here and the EP officially drops on Mar. 19.

Along with the new EP, Tankian is also releasing his new film Truth To Power on Feb. 19. The project includes exclusive interviews and original footage personally shot by Tankian. As well, the film features some of the unreleased music from his Elasticity EP.

“‘Truth To Power’ allows audiences backstage access to an international rock star whose faith in music not only revolutionized heavy metal, but also world events. Throughout his life, the musician has pursued social justice, harnessing the power of his songs and celebrity for real political change. Serj’s voice is equally likely to take on American corporate greed as lambast the corrupt regime of his homeland. His decades-long campaign for formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide was finally approved by Congress in December of 2019.”

“Elasticity” isn’t the first new music to arrive from Tankian in 2021. Back in January, Tankian teamed up with Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello for a special cover in honor of late Gang Of Four guitarist Andy Gill who passed away at the age of 64 in February 2020. Together, the duo covered the Gang Of Four classic “Natural’s Not In It” for a tribute album.

Serj Tankian Elasticity-min

Elasticity tracklisting:

  1. Elasticity
  2. Your Mom
  3. Rumi
  4. How Many Times?
  5. Electric Yerevan

What are your reactions to Serj Tankian’s new single? What song off of the EP do you want to hear the most? Let us know in the comments below.