Dream on

John Cameron Mitchell’s new video features Trump being eaten alive by Mitch McConnell

With so much speculation aimed at how Trump might react if he loses the election, here’s a scenario the pundits haven’t chimed in on — what if he refuses to leave office and Mitch McConnell eats him?

That’s the setup of John Cameron Mitchell’s new single, “New American Dream,” and things only get stranger, and ultimately more glorious from there.

The song is the title track off Mitchell’s “distance defying” two-part benefit album, with part one out this Friday on Bandcamp. New American Dream features over 40 collaborators including Hedwig co-creator Stephen Trask and musical director Justin Craig, Ezra Furman, Leland, Peppermint, Our Lady J and Amber Martin.

New American Dream is a lockdown-inspired remotely organized platonic musical orgy,” Mitchell said. “The idea started in March during self-isolation in a 100-year-old stone hut near Palm Springs. I encouraged screen/songwriter Our Lady J to send me a piano track over which I wrote the melody/lyrics to ‘See You Again,’ a tribute to the homeless during the pandemic. It went so well that I reached out to a variety of musical friends who sent me their own tracks that I could write to. I even contacted a stranger in the South of France, Izae, on Instagram because I liked his cover of a Hedwig song and we ended up writing two songs for the album.”

“Like the old story about the Stone Soup, where strangers throw whatever food item they possessed into a communal pot, old friends and new donated music, vocals, overdubs, mixing, mastering, video production, art and publicity,” he added. “Soon I realized we had a double album that could benefit the various charities that I’ve been helping through this dark time with Hedwig merch sales and Cameo videos. The whole experience has been such a comfort to us and we hope others will feel it too and add to the pot for the benefit of those in need.”

Proceeds from the album will go directly to Transgender Gender-Variant and Intersex Justice Project, Burritos Not Bombs and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Trust Fund.

Part one is out Friday, September 4, with part two coming November 6.

Find it here.

Now buckle up for the video for “New American Dream” directed by Matthew Zanfagna:

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