Category: dream pop

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Woozy, Nostalgia-Tinged Visuals for Beach House’s “Chariot”

Since their formation in 2004, the Baltimore-based indie rock act Beach House, comprised of Charm City music scene vets Victoria Legrand (organ, vocals) and Alex Scally (guitar, vocals), have released a handful of critically and commercially successful albums, including their last two efforts, Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars, which were released within two months of each other in 2015. Written and recorded within a roughly two-and-a-half year period between 2012 and 2014, both albums continue a long-term collaboration with co-producer Chris Coady while being closely related companion pieces or in other words, while separate, the two albums should be viewed in a very metaphorical sense as two sides of the same coin, as they build upon similar themes and an overall sound — a decidedly sparse, atmospheric sound that  nodded at Mazzy Star and others.

Much like countless bands before them, Legrand and Scally have written and recorded a large number of songs throughout their career, some of which have been played live or released that for whatever reason just didn’t quite fit their album-based material. Of course, over the course of the past few years, some of those songs have been increasingly difficult to find and listen to, and to accommodate their fans — while providing insight into the band’s own creative and editorial process when it comes to their albums. So the band will be releasing B-Sides and Rarities, a 14 track compilation of songs that they’ve recorded and released that just didn’t make their albums, and two previously unreleased singles “Chariot” and “Baseball Diamond,” recorded during the Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars sessions and much like the material off those albums, “Chariot,” the first single off the B-sides compilation is a slow-burning wisp of smoke with a hauntingly melancholy and nostalgia-tinged air. 

Directed by the members of the band, the recently released video for “Chariot” possesses a woozy and dream-like nostalgia as it begins from the perspective of watching from a movie theater with both color and black and white footage from the 60s that we’re all familiar with — a lot of it revolving around pop culture.  And much like the song it accompanies, the video lacks a clear narrative but makes up for it in by further emphasizing the moodiness of the song. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Dream Eaters “Neanderthals” in Studio

If you were frequenting this site earlier this year, you may recall a couple of posts I wrote about New York-based dream pop duo The Dream Eaters. Comprised of  Boston, MA-born, New York-based composer and songwriter Jake Zavracky and Vancouver Island, BC-born, New York-based vocalist and musician Elizabeth LeBaron, the New York-based dream pop duo can trace their origins together back to 2015. After playing and touring in obscurity both in his hometown and New York, Zavaracky had decided to give up music and for a period of time he was working in a Brooklyn dive bar, where he met LeBaron, a fellow bartender and musician, who had recently relocated to New York. When they both discovered that they were musicians, they found an instant connection and began collaborating together — although the initial arrangement was that Zavaracky had written songs for LeBaron. However, when they realized that their harmonies helped create a truly unique sound, they recognized that the best thing would be to write, record, and perform together. 

Initially writing and performing as Jake and Elizabeth, the duo saw a rapidly growing profile; however, as they began to further refine their sound, they felt that it was necessary to rebrand themselves, eventually taking up the name The Dream Eaters. And as The Dream Eaters, Zavracky and LeBaron released their self-produced debut EP Five Little Pills, an effort which has proven to be the precursor of the bare-bone production and sparse yet hauntingly gorgeous sound of their full-length debut, We Are A Curse and its first single “Dead On The Inside.” Sonically speaking, the duo pairs LeBaron’s lilting and effortless vocals with gently strummed folk-like guitar and chiming percussion with a soaring hook which displays the duo’s stunning harmonizing. And while bearing a resemblance to Moonbabies’ Wizards on the Beach, the song manages to sound as though it nods at Nick Drake and Crosby, Stills, and Nash-era folk. Thematically speaking, the song as the duo explained focuses on becoming unmoored and getting lost, and walking around with the realization that you’re living in a murky, anxious and unforgiving dream, evoking what many of us feel living in this surreal political climate; and while being a gorgeous and understated protest song, there’s an underlying sense of resolve and determination to survive and overcome the dark days ahead.

Interestingly, “Neanderthals,” We Are A Curse‘s second and latest single wasn’t originally meant to be on the album — and according to Zavracky is a revised and altered version of a song that he had originally written towards the end of the Bush Administration. After the 2016 presidential election the song seemed sadly relevant again, and ultimately came together very quickly. As Zavracky explains the song starts with a very pessimistic us vs. them mentality but takes on an optimistic, sort of “Don’t let the bastards grind you down” type of sentiment. “It’s mean to be more inspirational than negative by the end,” Jake Zavracky says. Elizabeth LeBaron adds that over the past couple of months, the song has grown and developed a much deeper meaning, even after they had finished it. “When we decided to record this song, the Women’s March was breaking records all over the world and this song felt like an anthem. ‘They won’t make us crawl / They’re all neanderthals’ are words that I think will resonate with anyone who is against the ‘archaic’ ideologies being pushed by the new administration,” LeBaron says. Sonically,   the duo pairs shuffling, trip hop-inspired beats with their gorgeous harmonies, twinkling keys and a soaring, anthemic hook to craft what may be the most strident and forcefully political song they’ve released to date.

With the assistance of their PR firm, Behind the Curtains Media, the New York-based dream pop duo recently released live footage, performing “Neanderthals” in the studio. Check it out. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Beach House Returns with a Moody and Shimmering B-Side

Since their formation in 2004, the Baltimore-based indie rock act Beach House, comprised of long-term local scene vets Victoria Legrand (organ, vocals) and Alex Scally (guitar, vocals), have released a handful of critically and commercially successful albums, including their last two efforts, Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars, which were released two months after each other, back in 2015. Written and recorded within a roughly two-and-a-half year period between 2012 and 2014, both albums continue a long-term collaboration with co-producer Chris Coady while being closely related companion pieces or in other words, while separate, the two albums should be viewed in a very metaphorical sense as two sides of the same coin, as they build upon similar themes and overall sound — a decidedly sparse, atmospheric sound that subtly nodded at Mazzy Star and others.
Much like countless bands before them, Legrand and Scally have written and recorded a large number of songs throughout their career, some of which have been played live or released that for whatever reason just didn’t quite fit their album-based material. Of course, over the course of the past few years, some of those songs have been increasingly difficult to find and listen to, and to accommodate their fans — while providing insight into the band’s own creative and editorial process when it comes to their albums. So the band will be releasing B-Sides and Rarities, a 14 track compilation of songs that they’ve recorded and released that just didn’t make their albums, and two previously unreleased singles “Chariot” and “Baseball Diamond,” recorded during the Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars sessions and much like the material off those albums, “Chariot,” the first single off the B-sides compilation is a slow-burning wisps of smoke with a hauntingly melancholy air, while subtly nodding at Purple Rain-era Prince.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Joakin Buddee is a Stockholm, Sweden-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumenliast and producer, and with his solo recording project foreverandever<3, Buddee has received airplay from P3 Radio and attention from major Scandinavian music blogs Ja Ja Ja Music, Nordik by Nature and Popmani for crating thoughtful, dance floor-friendly, escapist electro pop that is for “people who love electronic sounds and club music, but are a little too introvert to go to a rave. They dance at home in their heads.”

“so guuud,” a collaboration with internationally renowned Stockholm, Sweden-based dream pop artist David Alexander, best known as Summer Heart, is the first single off his  soon-to-be released debut EP, Late Walk/Space Walk and it will further cement Buddee’s reputation for thoughtful, dance floor friendly electro pop as it features a slick, hypermodern, house music-inspired production featuring layers of stuttering drum programming, thumping beats, swirling and whirling electronics, shimmering arpeggio synths, plaintive vocals and a big, crowd pleasing hook — and while nodding at both Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, the song evokes both the swooning passion of a summer fling and the liberating feeling of abandon on the dance floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Late last week, I wrote about New York-based dream pop duo The Dream Eaters. And as you may recall, the duo, comprised of  Boston, MA-born, New York-based composer and songwriter Jake Zavracky and Vancouver Island, BC-born, New York-based vocalist and musician Elizabeth LeBaron can trace their origins back to 2015. As the story goes, after playing and touring in obscurity in both his hometown of Boston and New York, Zavracky had decided that it was time to give up music, and for a period do time he was working in a Brooklyn dive bar, where he met LeBaron, another bartender, who at the time had recently relocated to New York. Discovering that they were both musicians, they found an instant connection and began collaborating together — although initially, Zavracky had written songs for LeBaron. However, when Zavracky and LeBaron realized that their harmonies helped to create a truly unique sound, while drawing from dream pop, shoegaze, psych pop, folk and indie rock, they recognized that the best thing would be to be write, record,  and perform together.

Initially writing and performing as Jake and Elizabeth, the duo saw a rapidly growing profile; however, as they began to further refine their sound, they felt that it was necessary to rebrand themselves, eventually taking up the name The Dream Eaters. And as The Dream Eaters, Zavracky and LeBaron released their self-produced debut EP Five Little Pills, an effort which has proven to be the precursor of the bare-bone production and sparse yet hauntingly gorgeous sound of their soon-to be released full-length debut, We Are A Curse‘s first single “Dead On The Inside.” Sonically speaking, the duo pairs LeBaron’s lilting and effortless vocals with gently strummed folk-like guitar and chiming percussion with a soaring hook which displays the duo’s stunning harmonizing. And while bearing a resemblance to Moonbabies’ Wizards on the Beach, the song manages to sound as though it draws from Nick Drake and Crosby, Stills, and Nash-era folk. While thematically speaking, the song as the duo explained focuses on coming unmoored and getting lost, and walking around with the realization that you’re living in a murky, anxious and unforgiving dream, evoking what many of us feel living in this surreal political climate; and while being a gorgeous and understated protest song, there’s an underlying sense of resolve and determination to survive and overcome the dark days ahead.

Interestingly, “Neanderthals,” We Are A Curse‘s second and latest single wasn’t originally meant to be on the album — and according to Zavracky is a revised and altered version of a song that he had originally written towards the end of the Bush Administration. After the 2016 presidential election the song seemed sadly relevant again, and ultimately came together very quickly. And as Zavracky explains the song starts with a very pessimistic us vs. them mentality but takes on an optimistic, sort of “Don’t let the bastards grind you down” type of sentiment. “It’s mean to be more inspirational aha negative by the end,” Jake Zavracky says. Elizabeth LeBaron adds that over the past couple of months, the song has grown and developed a much deeper meaning, even after they had finished it. “When we decided to record this song, the Women’s March was breaking records all over the world and this song felt like an anthem. ‘They won’t make us crawl / They’re all neanderthals’ are words that I think will resonate with anyone who is against the “archaic” ideologies being pushed by the new administration,” LeBaron says. However, sonically speaking, the duo pairs shuffling, trip hop-inspired beats with their gorgeous harmonies, twinkling keys and a soaring, anthemic hook to craft what may be the most strident and forcefully political song they’ve released to date.

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from a scientific theory that suggests that Earth may have had a second moon, a twin moon that was destroyed in a massive collision during the early days of our solar system, Lunar Twin, an electro pop/dream pop/shoegaze duo comprised of Bryce Boudreau (vocals) and Chris Murphy (multi-instrumentalist and producer) can trace their origins to the 2011 Denver Underground Music Festival when Boudreau joined Murphy’s goth band Nightsweats as a guest vocalist. And by 2013, the duo started collaborating together full-time.

Now, it’s been some time since the duo have released new, original material as both the Los Angeles, CA-based, Hawaii-based Boudreau and the Salt Lake City, UT-based Murphy have been involved in a variety of creative pursuits — with Murphy working in projects that have shared stages with an impressive list of renowned artists including Grimes, Bonnie Prince Billy and Peaches among others; however, the duo’s latest effort Night Tides EP was released earlier this month through Texas-based dream pop/shoegaze label Moon Sounds Records with an extremely limited run of lathe-cut vinyl through the band’s own imprint Lunar Industry Records, and a limited cassette run through their new label. Unsurprisingly because of the distance between the two collaborators, that distance plays a significant thematic role on the material of Night Tides. As Murphy mentions in press notes, ” We both live thousands of miles apart, separated by the Pacific Ocean and miles of mountains and desert. These totally different places of isolation are the nexus of our songwriting. The ocean plays a big part in this album. The ebb an flow of the die and the effect the moon has on it.”

Boudreau adds, “For this EP, we wanted to channel the spirit of the primordial world and a lost island in the equatorial night feeling. The dense warm air smelling of flowers beneath a canopy of banyan trees.”  “Waves,” the first single off Night Tides, Boudreau explains “is about drifting between two worlds — the primeval and the technological and between Earth and Water spirits.”  And while sonically speaking, the duo’s latest single will further cement their reputation for crafting moody and atmospheric pop in which they pair Boudreau’s rich Mark Lanegan-like baritone with a minimalist production featuring propulsive, tribal-like drumming, ambient synths with brief bursts of shimmering guitar and twinkling keys. It’s a hauntingly gorgeous track that manages to evoke  the sensation of awakening from a pleasant reverie and swimming within a warm and gently ebbing  body of water with the moonlight shimmering right in front of you.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Boston, MA-born, New York-based composer and songwriter Jake Zavracky and Vancouver Island, BC-born, New York-based Elizabeth LeBaron, the New York-based dream pop duo The Dream Eaters can trace their origins back to 2015. After playing and touring in obscurity in several bands both in his hometown of Boston and New York, Jake Zavracky decided to give up the musician’s life, and for a period of time he was working in a Brooklyn dive bar, when he met Elizabeth LeBaron, another bartender, who had recently relocated to New York. Discovering that they were both musicians, they found an instant connection and began collaborating together — although initially, Zavracky had written songs for LeBaron to sing. However, upon the realization that their harmonies helped to create a wholly unique sound, that draws from dream pop, shoegaze, psych pop, folk and rock, they recognized that they needed to write and perform as a unit.

Initially writing and performing as Jake And Elizabeth, Zavracky and LeBaron saw a rapidly growing profile; however, as they began to further refine their sound, they felt that they needed to rebrand themselves, eventually performing as The Dream Eaters. And in fact, 2016 saw the release of their self-produced, debut EP as The Dream Eaters, Five Little Pills — and interestingly enough, the EP proved to be precursor of the bare-bone production and sparse yet hauntingly gorgeous sound of “Dead On The Inside,” the first single off the duo’s soon-to-be released full-length debut, We Are A Curse. Thematically speaking, the duo notes that the song focuses on coming unmoored and getting lost, and walking around with the realization that you’re living in a murky, anxious and unforgiving dream, evoking what many of us feel living in this surreal political climate; and while being a gorgeous and understated protest song, there’s an underlying sense of resolve and determination to survive and overcome the dark days ahead.

As far as the single, sonically speaking, the duo pairs LeBaron’s lilting and effortless vocals with gently strummed folk-like guitar and chiming percussion with a soaring hook which displays the duo’s stunning harmonizing. And while bearing a resemblance to Moonbabies’ Wizards on the Beach, the song manages to sound as though it draws from Nick Drake and Crosby, Stills, and Nash-era folk.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their first two full-length albums 2012’s self-titled debut and 2014’s Adorn, the Canadian experimental pop/ambient electro pop/dream duo You’ll Never Get To Heaven — comprised of Alice Hansen, a classically trained pianist and violinist and Chuck Blazevic, a studio obsessed tone-sculptor and monome performer — quickly received attention nationally and internationally for a staunchly DIY/independent ethos and for lush, deeply textured compositions that are roomy enough for Hansen’s ethereal cooing.

And as a result of their growing profile, they caught the attention of Yellow K Records, the label home of Eskimeaux and Japanese Breakfast, who officially released the band’s third full-length effort Images today. And while the album’s fourth and latest single “White Light” will further their reputation for crafting lush and textured pop, it offers a subtle expansion into their sound as the slow-burning single features gently swirling electronics, twinkling synths and percussion, brief bursts of industrial clang and clatter to create a fever dream-like vibe — in which the narrator and the listener can’t quite discern if they’re completely asleep and or dreaming or awake and hallucinating.

Interestingly, while the Canadian dream pop duo have in the past been rather reclusive,  they’re currently planning their first European and north American gigs to support Images over the course of the Spring and Summer of this year, so be on the lookout; however, in the meantime, if you’re in Ontario over the next few weeks, you can catch them live. Check out dates below.

Tour Dates
03/31/17 – London, ON – First Spiritualist Church
04/07/17 – Toronto, ON – The Baby G
04/16/17 – Ottawa, ON – Le Temporaire
04/18/17 – Sarnia, ON – Refined Fool Brewing
04/19/17 – Hamilton, ON – The Casbah

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Winnipeg-based Indie Rock Act Living Hour Performs Gorgeous New Single Live

Living Hour is a Winnipeg, MB-based indie rock quartet that can trace their origins to when they formed during basement jam sessions in which they would write dreamy and cinematic songs inspired by the enormous prairie skies that surround their hometown. And unsurprisingly, the sound that the Canadian quartet developed manages to draw from shoegazer rock, dream pop and chillwave among other genres. Now, if you had been frequenting this site back in 2015, you may recall that I wrote about “Seagull,” a single that reminded me quite a bit of Mazzy Star‘s “Fade Into You.”

The Canadian quartet is currently in the middle of a Stateside tour, including a lengthy stop in Austin for SXSW — in fact, I think at this moment they’re playing at the Force Field PR Showcase; and interestingly enough, just before the band embarked on their tour, they recorded a live version of an ethereal and gorgeous new single “Inside.” And much like “Seagull,” the new will further cement the quartet’s reputation for a sound that draws from shoegaze and dream pop paired with ethereal and haunting vocals, that possesses a cinematic quality; but unlike its predecessor, the band pairs a gorgeous and mournful horn arrangement at the song’s cathartic coda.

The live footage of the song was shot by Jelly Fish Jam during a recent performance at the West End Cultural Center in Winnipeg Manitoba, and as you can see, the band expands to a septet to evoke an even larger, more lush and enveloping sound.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Deriving their name from an archaic spelling of the state of Alaska and the first name of the band’s frontwoman, Alyeska is a Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock/dream pop duo comprised of Montana-born, Los Angeles, CA-based Alaska Reid and Ben Spear. And with “Tilt A Whirl,” the first single off the duo’s soon-to-be released, John Angelo-produced debut EP Crush, the duo began to receive attention across the blogosphere for a  sound that drew equally from 80s post-punk and New Wave, as it did from contemporary indie rock.

Crush‘s second and latest single “Motel State of Mind” is a moody and dramatic song that the duo’s Alaska Reid explained in an interview the Billboard wasn’t about illicit behavior, like truckers, hookers and cooking meth but an attempt to “rip off The Replacements;” however to my ears, the song sound as though the band was inspired by Concrete Blonde‘s “Joey” as Reid’s dreamy and achingly plaintive vocals are paired with a towering and enveloping shoegazer-like guitar chords, angular bass chords and dramatic drumming — but with an swooning heartache at its core.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of two husband and wife couples, Christina Carmona (vocals, bass) and Noe Carmona (guitar, keys)  and Michelle Soto (guitar, vocals) and Jake Soto (drums), the Austin, TX-based dream pop/shoegaze quartet Blushing can trace its origins to the summer of 2015 when its founding member Michelle Soto recruited her classically trained friend Christina Carmona to join her new project, after several years of writing material on guitar.  Soto and Carmona then recruited their spouses to complete the band’s lineup and after about a year of writing and revising their material, the newly formed quartet went into Bad Wolf Recordings to record their debut EP Tether, which was mixed and mastered by Philip Odom and released earlier this year.

“Tether,” the EP’s title track  and immersive first single finds the band pairing Carmona and Soto’s ethereal harmonizing with shimmering guitar chords, a propulsive rhythm section, a soaring hook and some guitar pyrotechnics during an immense solo in a way that brings to mind Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, Belly, Beach House, Real Estate and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve and Lightfoils, complete with a subtly cosmic glow.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Swedish Dream Pop Sensation Linnea Olsson Takes You to Hell — and Back in New Video

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months, you’ve likely recall that I’ve written about Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Linnea Olsson. After collaborating with Peter Gabriel, Sting, Ane Brun and Maia Hirasawa., Olsson quickly established herself as a go-to cellist; however, the Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has recently begun to receive international attention for her self-described cello-driven fantasy pop.

“The Weekend,” which was released at the end of last year, was a swooning track featured Olsson paired a gorgeous and lush, classical string arrangement with highly modern and ironic lyrics describing a neurotic and delusional narrator, who escapes into her own revenge fantasies. And yes, Olsson’s latest single “Hall of Tragedy” will further cement her growing reputation for crafting swooning and gorgeous pop, and for her equally beautiful and plaintive vocals; however, while “The Weekend” possesses a quirky mischievousness and an atmospheric chamber pop quality, “Hall of Tragedy” pairs that atmospheric chamber pop sound with a brooding seriousness reminiscent of Ocean Rain-era Echo and the Bunnymen.

Featuring Olsson’s stop-motion animation, the recently released animated video is according to Olsson an “apocalyptic children’s book video for grown-ups” that manages to illustrate what falling into deep, unyielding depression would feel like from the song’s narrator’s perspective. And as a result, it adds a deeply visceral and haunting feel to the proceedings.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Swedish Synth Pop Artist Vanbot Visually Explores the Conflicting and Confusing Emotions at the Heart of Most Human Relationships

With the release of her first two, critically applauded full-length efforts, her 2011 full-length debut and its follow-up Perfect Storm, both of which were produced by Johannes Berglund, who has worked with internationally acclaimed acts The Knife and I Break Horses, the Stockholm, Sweden-based singer/songwriter and electronic pop artist Ester Ideskog, best known as Vanbot quickly established a reputation for crafting ethereal, hook-driven and deeply thoughtful synth-based pop.

The first single off Ideskog’s forthcoming, third album Siberia, “Collide (Krasnoyarsk),” continues her ongoing collaboration with Johannes Berglund while also being a subtle change in sonic direction for the Stockholm-based pop artist, as the track possesses a Kate Bush-like brooding yet atmospheric air; but paired with thumping beats, shimmering arpeggio synths and industrial clang and clatter. Now, to my ears, the song reminds me quite a bit of Niki and the Dove, Moonbabies and others, thanks in part to its hook-driven nature and moody feel but at its core is a raw, visceral heartache. As Ideskog explains in press notes, “‘Collide (Krasnoyarsk)’ was written after four days on the Trans-Siberian Railway, traveling through the deepest parts of Siberia. The temperature was just above zero, it was raining and we were passing through small villages and old industrial communities. It describes the collisions and the attractions in relationships, and having no choice but to accept the raw and un-retouched feelings. You know, it’s like the poem of David Jones: ‘It’s both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so very deeply.’”

Directed by Mats Udd, the recently released music video for the song features two dancers — a male and female dancer — in a narrow, industrial hallway, and the dancers’ movements symbolize the unseen and impossible to comprehend forces that pull, tug and push you towards or away from another. In some way, the video further emphasizes the conflicting feelings of hurt, confusion, longing and disgust within the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last month, I wrote about ACES‘ first single of 2017. “Just Cut It Out,” a single which will appear on an border-crossing synth pop compilation DRUG BLVD featuring contributions by artists from the US, Australia, the U.K, The Netherlands and elsewhere. Mastered by Barry Grint, who has worked with David Bowie, Radiohead, Prince, Oasis, Beastie Boys, Madonna, Guns ‘N’ Roses and others, the compilation will be the first release from new,  Istanbul, Turkey-based dream pop label Drug Boulevard, founded by Kubily Yigit, the founder of renowned Turkish progressive/trance label Blue Soho Records. The compilation’s second and latest single is a contribution from 23-year-old, Los Angeles, CA-based electronic music artist and producer Edrina K. Martinez, best known in electronic music circles as Astronautica. And as Astronautica, the young, up-and-coming Angelena is one of Alpha Pup Records newest addition to their roster, thanks to a lush and dreamy production style that channels Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves and Sade, as you’ll hear on “Reasons” — but paired with thumping house music and 808-like beats.