Posted: by The Editor
Jasmine McElroy of exciting!!excellent!! seems to refine her chiptune craft with each release. Last year’s tysm!!!! felt like a tightening up of her precise and cutting songwriting style, while the Gameboy-programming became more complex and stunning overtop of the guitar parts that served to ground the tracks. Her upcoming record you will watch me die is yet another crystallization of exciting!!excellent!!’s unique, but undeniably catchy emo chiptune, and we’re psyched to share the first track “become dream (rank 1)” today. Featuring Caleb Haynes of Lonely Ghost labelmates Hey, Ily, “become dream (rank 1)” blasts off with a punky energy right away before leading into a mind-boggling, yet soothing onslaught coming from the Gameboy as McElroy repeats “guess you’re all against me now.”
On the tune, McElroy said: “i started writing this song later than most of the other tracks. i had the idea for a dancey arpeggiated lead and the repeating “guess you’re all against me now” line just kinda popped up naturally as a hook. as i developed the song further it became harder to hear it in any voice but caleb’s (hey,ily), so i sent him the demo and he brought a whole new dimension to the vocal performance with some really killer backup harmonies. i wanted to use his voice in the beginning verse as a representation of the gaslighting and denial faced by trans people trying to describe their experiences, with my verse being a response from the perspective of a target of that violence.”
you will watch me die is out on 8/25 via Lonely Ghost Records.
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Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
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