The experimental pop artist’s dreamy new single is “about the power of love”—and it’s the official soundtrack to your summer
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After a lOoOooNnG winter season spent poppin’ Vitamin D supplements, spooning SAD lamps and Tetris-ing torsos out windows to soak up the half-rays illuminating our fire escapes for five minutes a day—plus a short, lovely sliver of spring in which, wait… why am I still wearing a sweater?!—as we prepare to embark on a new season, it’s time to pour up and toss back a double-shot of pure sunshine in what-else-but-song form.
And on that we-need-this note, today I’m stoked to officially pop the lid off the sonic tonic you’ll be slathering like SPF across every scenario as the official soundtrack to your summer.
This is “OD on Sunshine”—the brand-new single from Ernesto Hex!
Recorded by the experimental-pop artist in his home studio during quarantine (his third rad release of the year), “OD on Sunshine” is best consumed at and/or on the way to the park or beach by bike, car, subway or sidewalk and pairs perfectly with both bodega beers tossed between blanket islands and semi-questionable nutcrackers purchased from the cooler of the visor-wearing, Venmo-accepting entrepreneur you flagged down from six lifeguard stands away.
As for the meaning behind the psychedelic-soul track… Well, as we vax up, strip down and embark on the (mostly?) metaphorical orgy that will be the Summer of Love™, it’s only fitting that this sweet ‘n’ smoooooth single—which gives me vibes reminiscent of my #1 (not local) band // fave group of Frenchmen, Phoenix—is rooted in the most romantic of concepts.
Plus, vampires.
“This song is about the power of love and whether or not you are willing to risk everything you know and believe to make it work,” Ernesto Hex told me over email. “I found a lot of inspiration for the song’s lyrics in the relationship between Louis & Lestat in Interview with the Vampire so please don’t mind the overt vampiric metaphors! Musically, the song draws a lot from old boom bap break beats, mo-town, and 1960/70s Tropicalia.”
While admittedly, I haven’t seen Interview with the Vampire, a critic with The New York Times called it “sumptuous, mesmerizing and imaginatively ghastly”—which, coincidentally, is the exact set of adjectives I’m sure we’re all hoping will describe our personal ~love lives~ in summer 2021…
With “OD on Sunshine” playing in the background 24/7, obviously.
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Follow Ernesto Hex at @ernesto_hex, buy his music on Bandcamp and add his songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the artist.