Saying that my Spotify algorithm doesn’t know what I want would be a horrific understatement of my current predicament. I’ve slowly been building a mental catalog of artists making this post-hyperpop blend of clean production with juuuust enough grit to keep my brain tingling, but much to the detriment of that search Spotify only seems to pick up on the fact that that’s what I want once every 30 songs. It makes running a blog focusing in on that sound particularly difficult, but luckily for me even a broken clock is right twice a day, and when the algorithm gets it right, it absolutely gets it right.

Severed Ties 2.0 is the second iteration of a beautifully complex piece penned by Darling I Dreamt, now with the loving additional vocal support from EMiDORA. From a production standpoint, this is a song that’s checking every single box, and then making up new boxes just to check. It comes off misleadingly clean up front, presenting itself as “just” another really good dark pop track, holding it’s cards for when it needs to apply the pressure. With whining synth lead in hand tension builds between the gorgeous delivery of Darling I Dreamt’s proclamation of killing the night, layered over what feels almost like a Chekhov’s gun of a bass line. That last part is possibly one of my favourite things about this song, because all the different individual parts of this song are laid out up front, but it’s not until the near the conclusion of the second verse that everything is built together to it’s true power, particularly with the previously clean synth bass giving away to a thick, distorted, monster of a patch.

It’s no secret that I’m far too much of a production nerd to run a blog normal people can fully enjoy, and for that I apologized, but to drop the fake formality I’ve been putting on, that distorted bass is genuinely to die for. When I tell people I’m hunting for “post-hyperpop” music, this blend of clean production and enveloping sound design grit is exactly what I want. Severed Ties takes the best parts of high production pop with a great clean mix and two phenomenally talented and well written vocalists, and pairs it with the kind of unhinged sound choices the studios in LA only hear in their nightmares, and I love it. Sound design nerd tangent aside though, the vocals on Severed Ties 2.0 are such a treat to hear, as both singers in play on this track compliment each other wonderfully. The way the backing vocals blend between each other while the leads paint a story of romantic torment and dysfunction is nothing short of art, and deserves recognition in full.

Overall I must admit that actually rearranged the entire schedule for “THE ARCHIVE” at 4am because I wanted to write this article sooner rather than later. I genuinely believe these two have viral potential and I want to be able to say I was on the ground floor. Their voices paired together on this general sound is a combo made in heaven, and I’m immensely excited to see what they each do next. So to come full circle to the beginning of the article, maybe Spotify’s algorithm isn’t entirely terrible (just mostly), maybe I talk too much about sound design, and maybe that Chekhov’s gun reference was a little too niche (it’s a narrative principal, Google it), but what’s not niche is the appeal of this song, and now I pass the job on to you to make it known to the world.