Cleo Reed Announces New EP Is This How Empires Die?

The political and socioeconomic issues that Cleo Reed sang about on their 2025 album Cuntry are still plaguing the U.S. In an upcoming EP Is This How Empires Die?, the musician continues to examine the life of queer and working class individuals in America. The record, out December 4, includes lead single “American Dream” and its accompanying video, filmed at the Demery Family Rodeo in Oklahoma on the Fourth of July. In it, Reed questions American policy, surveillance, and patriotism across a landscape that juxtaposes scenes of Black youth playing with closing shots of the singer’s silhouette backdropped by flames. Watch it below.

“‘American Dream’ is my anti-anthem, like the panic after waking up from a bad dream in a cold sweat,” Reed explained in a press statement. “It’s afro-surrealist. It’s anti-imperial. I took on the daunting task and now we’re here! The age of AI-music, mass flooding, surveillance, and crisis–somehow interrupted by the occasional joys of traditional holidays. I wrote the song for the hypothetical day when I’m celebrating the 4th of July and then the storm comes. This is a moment of waking from the perfect dream. Face reality.”

Kiana Mickles is a staff writer at Pitchfork. They previously worked as the reviews editor at Resident Advisor. They were born and raised in New York. ... Read More