Yxngxr1’s latest EP ‘I Don’t Suit Hats’ strengthened his stature as a singular voice for 2020, resulting in new artist profiles from The Line of Best Fit and Spindle while thrusting his monthly Spotify listeners in excess of 500,000 and Instagram followers to almost 100k. It also instigated a demand for new music, with teasers of today’s tracks ‘Something (Demo)’ and ‘Calicalicali’ picking up 22,000 likes at Instagram with fans eager for more of the DIY artist’s unique bedroom beats and low-fi sounds.
Lead track ‘Something (Demo)’ doesn’t fail to disappoint – Listen HERE.
Yxngxr 1 explains “Something (Demo) is a lead up to summer single, just about my exes and being a little sad boy still. It’s been a hard year but I want 2020 to be a year that I remember for releasing so much music and growing my audience. Something (Demo) is the type of song that would’ve just stayed on my laptop for ages, but now I want to be unafraid to just keep releasing music. We pushed back the song from its original release date due to recent events (Black Lives Matter). Last week I was able to get thousands of my fans to sign petitions and donate with me, which was a really cool and special feeling.”
The second track, ‘Calicalicali’ is a fittingly unconventional soundtrack for an unusual summer. A hazy heatstroke of a melody transports us to the West Coast, before Yxngxr1’s DIY bedroom beats set the track’s foundation. His laidback, semi-sung rhymes present a picture postcard of a Cardiff boy who’s longing for some Californian sunshine. Watch the video HERE.
“Calicalicali was inspired by my trip out to San Francisco in December 2019. Meeting different people and seeing a city that was so completely different to my home town, Penarth. I can’t wait to go again once the world returns back to normal” says Yxngxr1.
The tracks are the first to preview his forthcoming EP ‘YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW’, which is out on 5th July and will be released in partnership with EMPIRE. It’s real and relatable from the get-go, with opening track ‘STAY INSIDE (Call Me)’ full of young adult apathy and resigned romantic despair. In tracks that rarely stretch much beyond the two-minute mark, Yxngxr1 gets straight to the point. Bouncy beats quickly lead to earwormy grooves and lo-fi sounds, the mood somehow both uplifting and nostalgic.
‘Hope Ur Good’ demonstrates a darker, moodier tone that we haven’t heard from the young artist before. A sparkling guitar riff rings out over an unobtrusive beat, but it’s his lyrics that really standout. They depict reflective moments of small moments in a relationship that meant a lot – even if they’re lost to the past.
| Yxngxr1 hopes that ‘YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW’ will be the second of five EPs that he’ll release this year. While he has big plans, it’s a goal with a deeper motivation than simple ambition. It’s the recognition that he wants to replay the fan community for the opportunity they’ve given him. The 21-year-old is an artist who uses the culture around him as a platform to make a connection. His initial fan following was crafted by focusing on getting his music featured on big meme accounts on social media. TikTok also played a part, with over 35,000 fans sharing their own versions of his track ‘Rather Do’. His sub-Reddit also reiterates that two-way relationship, with newcomers asking for song recommendations and hardcore fans discussing their ideas for tattoos. After 37 million Spotify streams and 15 million views at YouTube, Yxngxr1 is just getting started.  ‘YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW’ tracklist: ‘STAY INSIDE (Call Me)’ ‘Ahhh’ ‘Born Into Pain’ ‘Calicalicali’ ‘Classroom’ ‘Hit Me Up Again’ ‘Hope Ur Good’ ‘WGAF’ |
