Musing about the new Boards of Canada activity/new song, there is obviously a lot to dissect, but one thing that I think is interesting is that a lot of what they're showing us feels very reminiscent of their past works. Like the eyeless children on the posters that have been going up being reminiscent of the faceless children on MHTRTC cover. Or the religious themes in the VHS tapes that they sent out + Tape 05 being reminiscent of Geogaddi/IABPOITC. Or even the 'ARG' type marketing campaign they're doing in general being reminiscent of the album rollout for Tomorrow's Harvest.
And it's not like those themes were exclusive to those albums, those are all ideas they've explored in all of their work, so it's on brand for them. But I mean... it's VERY on brand, yknow? Like, exactly what you think of when you think of BOC. A little on the nose.
Maybe now that it's been ~13 years since their last full length project, they're taking their previous exploration of memory/nostalgia, and applying it to themselves. Taking their own art and distorting it into something that feels like what you remember Boards of Canada being, but with something subtly off about it. Like a fond memory that's faded with time, so faded that you can't quite remember what made it fond to begin with. Maybe even making a little commentary on their legacy as musicians, whatever opinion that might be.
Or idk maybe they're just using familiar imagery to reintroduce themselves to the public so people remember what they're about before they make a new thing. I don't know. Just thinking