There are love songs that speak directly to sex—to sweat and heat, and the yearning to be touched. Then there are those that dwell on the human desire for emotional connection, on the tethers we make (or break) when we choose to give our hearts to another. And then there are those that seek to illuminate something more abstract and intangible—the mystifying allure of a coy smile, the warm shock of a chance encounter, the dizzying high of a blossoming romance.
With his new solo project DREAMHAÜS, songwriter Jasön Mays (Young Mountain) uses elements of ambient, lofi, and hip-hop to construct shimmering canvases of light and texture. His debut EP, Lovers (A Lofi Film Score), was released this morning, a deliberate act of timing that would seem to make Mays’ intentions plain: this is a record about love or at least one inspired by it. But exactly what kind of love record remains entirely subjective. There are no lyrics to guide the listener, and what signposts Mays does offer—occasional fragments of spoken word and field recordings spliced into his luminous soundscapes—only add to the project’s seductive haze.
Lead single “Lovers (Foreign Flags),” which we’re excited to premiere this morning, is perhaps the EP’s most direct and affecting track. Couched against twinkling piano and rippling streams of guitar, the song uses recordings of a woman’s voice to build a mercurial narrative that teeters between longing and heartache. “Do you love me? / I love you / Don’t leave me,” she implores before adding “Keep me safe / I don’t want to lose you / I miss you.” The language here is one of doubt, but it’s set against sounds that are tender and soothing. It’s a delicate dance and one that works precisely because it’s so open-ended. There’s uncertainty in the air but hope and possibility still remain. Musically, it’s a bold step from Mays, although not one that is entirely removed from his past work.
“Sonically, I’ve always been enamored with ambient music, lofi, and hip-hop,” Mays says. “I’m a huge fan of Hammock, Arms and Sleeper, Team Sleep, The American Dollar, Tycho, Kaelin Ellis, Koresma, Appleby, James Blake… I’ve always wanted to step outside of the post-rock, post-hardcore music I’ve often gotten lumped into. Also, I kind of wanted to come up with an MCU type of interconnected/companion piece of sorts to my band Young Mountain’s EP If You Leave. So, in a few ways this is just a follow-up to that EP, kind of like how Spider-Man: No Way Home is a follow-up to Black Widow. I’ve always liked the idea of multiple projects being interconnected like that.”
Listen below.
Lovers (A Lofi Film Score) is out today and available for streaming via Spotify.
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