With “Living In Fiction,” Icky Blossoms takes a dramatic crack at a theme the Omaha band has been pointing at a long time.

If you’re bathed in strobe lights with them at a live show, or deep in your headphones listening to the new single — premiered via Fader this morning — only this sensory experience is real. It’s fatalistic and all-encompassing, transcendental or frightening, depending on your state of mind. The album it’s on, after all, is called Mask. 

As the second release from Icky Blossoms’ forthcoming sophomore record, it’s obvious and pertinent to nod to collaborator Todd Fink, who has long fronted The Faint. The speed of the song’s synth parts and digital antics certainly recalls The Faint, but never does Icky Blossoms’ beat truly hit back at you. You’re always invited. Like an experienced producer — though Mike Mogis has that official credit for Mask — Fink’s influence seems to help the band sound more like its imagined self.

Contrary to “In Folds,” the album’s first single, “Living In Fiction” trends darker than ethereal pop, something like a concert closer you build up to. Test that theory out when Icky Blossoms plays Slowdown this coming Tuesday with Reptar.

You can still preorder Mask here, out May 12 on Saddle Creek. “Living In Fiction” will also be available as a Record Store Day 7-inch. More on that here.