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When Regina George asked Cady Heron if she thought Aaron Samuels’ hair “looks sexy pushed back” in the 2004 teen comedy classic Mean Girls, Lindsay Lohan’s reserved character graphically imagined handling the situation how they would “in the animal world” – by leaping across the cafeteria table and tackling, growling and clawing at Rachel McAdams’ queen bee role. But of course, that didn’t actually happen. “Your hair looks sexy pushed back,” Heron responded defeatedly.
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That level of crashing out is what 26-year-old Vietnamese-American singer SAILORR believes “music is for,” she tells Billboard from her producer Adam Krevlin’s Los Angeles crib. As a “retired crash out” herself, SAILORR (real name Kayla Le) has prioritized preserving her peace over staying pressed in real life. But on her 2024 breakout hit and post-breakup anthem, “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” she rips apart her ex for moving on “to whatever b–ch you got in Bushwick,” while revealing she still feels torn up, even hyperventilating in the outro.
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Summer Walker reiterates that while she wishes her ex the best, she knows the worst is yet to come for his new girl on the remix of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” which peaked at No. 10 on Hot R&B Songs and No. 8 on Bubbling Under Hot 100, and acted as a lookout while SAILORR trashed her ex’s house in the official music video. “She was like, ‘OK, SAILORR, what do you have me doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Here’s the treatment.’ She was down with all of my shenanigans!” says SAILORR, adding that directing the music video with Walker in it is the biggest “pinch me” moment of her career so far.
SAILORR’s histrionics are a remnant from her musical theater days, when she dreamed of performing on Broadway while attending an art school in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to graduating high school, she started auditioning for various conservatories around the country, and on her way to a callback at The Theatre School at DePaul University, SAILORR decided acting wasn’t worth getting into debt for – but that music was worth pursuing.
While working a series of odd jobs from florist to lash tech, she released a handful of indie R&B singles and uploaded eclectic DJ mixes to SoundCloud under the alias Sailor Goon, inspired by the Japanese manga series Sailor Moon that she grew up watching. She built her own music community by befriending neighborhood “gear nerds” who taught her how to chop beats, and by virtually connecting with people from SoundCloud, including Adam Kain and AJ Roth of the psychedelic R&B band Cruza, who introduced her to their manager (and now SAILORR’s manager) Zach Migdal. Fast forward a few years later, SAILORR’s new biting, bass-heavy ballad “Cut Up” was SoundCloud’s track of the day last week.
Billboard spoke with February’s R&B Rookie of the Month about paying homage to her Vietnamese heritage with her moniker and blackened grillz, being a “retired crash out,” her ex’s response to “POOKIE’S REQUIEM” and being inspired by Nikki Giovanni on “W1LL U L13?”
What kind of music did you grow up listening to, and how does that influence the music you currently make?
My first introduction to any sort of music was getting my sister’s iPod Nano — I would take that s—t and see what she had downloaded from Limewire. It was mainly ‘90s R&B and hip-hop and 2000s R&B and hip-hop. When I was in middle school, that’s when I decided I wanted to explore music. I was always an avid listener. At that early stage, it was Destiny’s Child and Lauryn Hill, later I discovered Erykah Badu and André 3000. In middle school, I went through a huge alt phase. I was listening to a lot of indie music.
I read that you were a musical theatre kid, and just like me, you’re a child of immigrant parents. How do those aspects of your background affect the storytelling and aesthetics of your music?
It’s funny ‘cause deep down in my soul, I wanted to be on Broadway. I knew I wanted to be a performer. But of course, my family was like, “So what are you actually gonna do? What’s the vibes?” In general, that area of my life gave me the tools to learn how to survive out in the real world. After I graduated high school, I was like, “What am I gonna do with my life? Am I actually gonna audition for conservatories?” I was like, “No, I’m not going into debt for that. F—k that.” I started making music and hustling that way. In the same way you grow up in a family of immigrants, it teaches you ingenuity and your drive to go further. It motivated me, my parents not really being fully supportive of me doing music. It was just like, “I’m gonna do this s–t forreal and I’mma show you.”
If we’re really being frank, it’s kind of unprecedented. I don’t see anybody else like me making music like me. That territory of truly being myself and being able to present that to people and then have people connect with that, that s—t is still crazy as f—k to me. My life has completely changed because of that one song, and it goes to show that I had it in me. I just had to keep trusting it.
And what kind of music do you listen to now?
Mainly I listen to underground rap. Skaiwater is my s—t. The3 Sacred Souls. SahBabii. Prettifun. TisaKorean. There’s a girl named Nali, she’s hard as f—k.
How did you come up with the name SAILORR?
Growing up watching Sailor Moon — but also my finsta used to be @sailorg00n. I used to go by Sailor Goon when I was releasing music back then and little DJ mixes on SoundCloud. I had to drop it because I was like, “Sailor just rings so well. That’s me.” And to tie it back into my culture and heritage, there was a mass exodus of [Vietnamese] refugees that came [to America] after the war, and they were all sailors essentially. I came from a bunch of fishermen. My grandma, the first thing she did here when she came to America was peel shrimp on a boat.
Where did the inspiration come from to wear blackened grillz?
Way back when, a lot of Southeast Asian women would dye their teeth black using various things, it depends on where you come from. My grandma had black teeth. The very formative years of my life, when my parents were working, I was being watched by my grandma. She was my first look at what femininity is. It was an homage to her, but also, growing up in Florida, everybody has grillz. It’s a perfect intersection of where I come from and then where I come from.
Take me back through the making of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM.” I read you were inspired by the 2000s film Requiem of a Dream.
First of all, it’s a very f—king sad movie. That whole movie represents addiction, I feel like you can tie that into love, relationships. Specifically with that relationship, it was like, “Ah I know this isn’t going anywhere, but we’re here. I’m gonna keep coming back because I love that validation.” During that period of time when I made that song, we had just gone no contact, me and my ex. S—t was weird and off. I really had to take personal inventory and be like, “What is important to me right now?” And during that moment of time, it was me taking back myself. When you’re feeling yourself, you feel like you’re f—king 10 feet tall! A lot of what I said in that song is silly, like, “I’m gonna read you to filth, I’m gonna read her to filth and I’m gonna read me to filth. We’re all going down, b–ch!”
Has your ex reached out to you about the song?
Yeah definitely tried to spin back a couple times. It’s been weird, it’s been awkward. I don’t engage because I have to preserve my energy and my mental health. I can’t do it, it’s too much going on. I hope he’s doing well genuinely, it’s no beef over here. I just use it for source material, but in real life, I’m not a crash out forreal. I used to be, but now I’m just like, “It’s too much at stake here. I can’t f—k my s—t up over anybody.”
It must be nice to release those emotions through music like, “Let me not crash out in real life, but at least I can crash out through the song. In a different world, this is how I might’ve reacted.”
It’s like Mean Girls whenever they play out the scene and it’s super intrusive but then it doesn’t actually happen. But genuinely, that’s what music is for. I think it is funny that he has heard the song ‘cause know he knows what I know, I peeped game. A lot of the sh— is literal, but it’s also me popping my sh—.
What’s the best way to get through a breakup?
Cry, and then go do s—t that you actually really love to do. During that time, I was keeping myself busy going back and forth to LA from Florida. When I would be at home, I would go to the beach, go to the gym, smoke a blunt with my homegirls. And giving yourself time to really process everything.
Explain the significance behind the fan dance during your From the Block performance last November.
During Lunar Year, there’s a whole ceremony. The lions come out, the fan dancers. A lot of what I do in my music or my performance or my art in general is [a] nod to the things that I grew up with, things that are nostalgic to me. For From the Block, there was a Rush Hour 2 reference.
And what compelled you to hang upside down during your On The Radar performance?! How did you pull that off?
For that concept, I was like, “OK, play on the word ‘sailor.’ I’m going overboard. I’m trying to dock the boat.” It was just funny. I didn’t want to give a regular performance. We want to give it some story, some life. Hanging upside down was the “wow” factor.
That s–t was f—ked up, though. The type of harness you have to get into, all the pressure is in your chest and in your head. I wanted to try doing live vocals, and I probably could have, but because it was the second live performance of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” I felt like people were gonna come down on me and be like, “D–n, that’s how she sings?” I’m also upside down, b–ch!
How did you get Summer Walker on the “POOKIE’S REQUIEM” remix?
We met at a studio in LA. She’s so, so sweet. I literally love her music. I used to bump that s—t so, so, so, so heavy, still do. But for any artist to get some sort of props or cosign from my peers – your peers are people that you really, really, really look up to and respect – that s—t was wild.
This song literally opened up connections with people I’ll be able to call as part of my community. The biggest thing about music for me is being able to build with other people, collaborating is my biggest thing. I’m excited that it gets to be with people that I’ve loved and respected for the longest time.
At the end of the remix’s title, you wrote in brackets, “hehe look y’all I made it longer.” Were fans telling you the original song was too short?
Yes, of course. Everybody on TikTok, all the comments were like, “Why the f—k is this s—t only a minute long?” I hear y’all. I do read through them comments now! I hate to admit that…. At the beginning, it was hella hate so I really used to be reading through that shade, trying to restrain myself from responding to everybody. I’m a retired crash out now. [Laughs.] I’m excited to connect with the fans more. I’m so excited to perform live, I’m so excited to start a Discord and actually get to know them.
Do you have a name for your fanbase?
I call them the Fleet, like Sailor’s Fleet!
What did you think of Halle’s cover of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM”?
It was so good, she’s great. I love her.
Who else would you love to collaborate with this year?
I could throw so many people out there. Dream? Doechii, f—king SZA of course. I definitely want to make a song with Skaiwater. Random as f—k, King Krule. The ball could f—king go into any court at this point, who’s trying to work?
The “It’s because I love you/ I’mma get the least of you” lyrics from the bridge of “W1LL U L13?” comes from the televised sit-down conversation between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin in 1971. How did you find inspiration from that?
First of all, she’s an amazing person, RIP. I had picked a day to release it, and then she literally passed like two or three days before. I was like, “What the f—k?” In a way, it was a tribute to her because she’s one of the people that really influences me in all of this, as a person outside of the music.
“W1LL U L13?” is about knowing that this person can only give you so much, but you’re still here for it and going through the motions with this person. From that conversation, she was talking about “Why can’t you f—king fake it for me like you fake it with everybody else? Why do I always get the worst parts of you? Aren’t I the one that you love the most?” That whole song is [about how] it’s always often the people that are closest to you that you take for granted.
At the end of last year, you posted two truths and a lie on Instagram. “Before I dropped “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” I had to get 3 different sets of gold fronts made because I broke 2 of them, and for majority of the videos I’ve been seen in, I wear my Invisalign trays painted black. Before music, I was a bartender, florist, and lash tech and reached out to Chief Keef’s team to be a professional blunt roller (they never got back to me). And I have a forklift certification.” The people still want to know: Which one was the lie? Was it the forklift one?
Yup. [Regarding the first truth], there’s stage makeup by Ben Nye, that’s a makeup brand, that makes tooth paint, and I used to paint [my Invisalign trays] black.
Could you take it off?
Well, I had to change my trays every week anyway, so I was like, “F—k it.” I’m sure I could sit there and scrub it off. I had to literally get three sets of grillz made because I was so irresponsible. The first two months after I dropped “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” I just kept f—king losing them. I broke them at one point. I was like, “You know what? I’m just gonna paint my Invisalign trays black and go from there.”
So you really did reach out to Chief Keef’s team to be his professional blunt roller?
I did. They never got back to me.
Why him specifically?
[Sings.] These b–ches love Sosa! The offer is still on the table. I don’t care how busy I am, I’ll come kick it with Chief Keef anytime.
What more can we expect from SAILORR in 2025? Are we getting a debut project?
EP for sure. I’m thinking right now like eight songs — but I don’t know, we’ll see.
Miguel Bosé admits that on the first day of rehearsals for his upcoming Importante Tour 2025-2026, he felt terrified. “Oh my God! How was this done? How did one walk on stage?” he thought. But when the music started, his body began to move and glide naturally across the wooden platform to the rhythm of his famous song, “Nena.”
Everything was set for the great return of the pop icon, after an eight-year hiatus. It was time for the world to witness his personal and artistic rebirth.
“I was ready to come back, and suddenly going on tour became the most important thing in my life,” says an visibly excited Bosé to Billboard Español in Mexico City, where he has lived for the past seven years.
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“I feel very motivated, with a lot of desire. Oh!” he adds. “You see, I wanted to wait eight years to let all the past drama settle down and be able to rebuild myself physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally. All that had to be rebuilt.”
Bosé’s last tour was Estaré in 2017, which started in Mexico that February and followed the concept of his last album to date, Bosé: MTV Unplugged (2016), concluding the following year. His last recording was a cumbia version of his classic “Morir de Amor” with Los Ángeles Azules, included in that band’s 2018 album Esto Sí Es Cumbia.
Today, Bosé looks triumphant for having overcome a crisis that shook him on various levels: He partially lost his voice between 2019 and 2023; ended a 26-year relationship with Nacho Palau; suffered the death of his mother, the Italian actress and model Lucía Bosé; and was the victim of an armed robbery at his luxurious home in Mexican City in August 2023.
“When everything that happened happened, and all the problems began to accumulate from all sides, I blamed Bosé. I said, ‘He is to blame’ — ‘You are to blame, bastard, for being who you are. You have destroyed my life.’ So I deconstructed myself like a Lego, and left all the pieces there for eight years,” he said at a press conference following the interview.
The singer of “Aire” and “Si Tú No Vuelves” points out that he had to exercise humility, and decide that the self-punishment had been enough. Therefore, he says that his 2025-2026 Importante Tour will be a “luminous” and “powerful” concert.
“People are going to hear the super hits,” he says, explaining that he had to leave many songs out of the setlist. “I can’t do a six-hour show. It’s not viable.” He details that this tour will consist of several segments like “a collection of paintings” that will depict various characters, stories and landscapes.
Importante Tour will begin its journey on Feb. 27 at the Congress Center in Querétaro, in that state neighboring the capital of Mexico, and will arrive at the National Auditorium in Mexico City on March 14 and 15, before visiting other Mexican cities.
He will continue in June in his native Spain. And, on Oct. 2, he’ll begin the U.S. trek of the tour at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the coming weeks and months, the artist hopes to announce dates for Latin America.
“I look forward for everyone to come and see luminous, a fun show — a journey through time, through the soundtracks of millions of people — to see this beautiful and bold proposal,” he adds.
With more than 30 million albums sold throughout a five-decade career, Bosé is one of the most recognized Latin pop artists globally. On the Billboard charts, he has placed hits like “Nena,” “Morena Mía,” and “Como un Lobo” on Hot Latin Songs and Latin Airplay, and multiple albums in the top 10 of the Top Latin Albums ranking, including Papito, Cardio, and Papitwo.
And his influence extends beyond music. Awarded with accolades such as the Latin Recording Academy 2013 Person of the Year, the Global Gift Humanitarian Award and Telemundo’s El Poder en Ti, as a philanthropist, Bosé is deeply involved in such causes as Patrimonio Indígena Mex, Fundación Lucha Contra el Sida and National Geographic’s Pristine Seas.
Although the 68-year-old artist — who’s also a writer and an actor — says he has many songs he has written over the last few years, he has no plans to share new material anytime soon, because he considers that releasing albums is “not viable” at a time when music has been digitalized.
“I have already built my career,” he says. “I don’t feel like recording anything right now. How do you sell that music? Are there stores, are there supports? How much do you pay? What does it contribute? How much does it give you financially? Nothing, I have no desire for others to take advantage of the new creations, that neither I nor my fans have something tangible — a CD, a cassette.
“[Instead] I’ll sing to the people the first 30 songs they are expecting to hear [on the tour] — because if I don’t, they will slit my throat,” he concludes with a laugh.
Spotify playlists are officially getting sticky. The streaming giant rolled out its new “Create Cover Art” feature on Wednesday (Feb. 19), which will allow fans to craft custom cover art tailored to their listening preferences. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The new function features a collection […]
It’s been nearly 16 years since Lady Gaga and Beyoncé made a Thelma & Louise-style getaway in their “Telephone” collaboration, with the music video ending with the message, “To be continued…” Now, the story really is continuing. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Lady Gaga sat down with […]
BLACKPINK has officially announced the dates to their world tour, and we have all the details. Keep watching to see what the girls had to say about their upcoming tour together! Are you going to snag tickets for their concert? Let us know in the comments! Tetris Kelly:How ya like that? BLACKPINK announced their world […]
Mahershala Ali is more than just an actor. The Bay Area native used to also have a rap career and still continues to champion the genre. He was recently asked by TikTok user @rohnthugsnharmony about which hip-hop story he would like to see on the silver screen, and the actor gave an intriguing answer. “There’s […]
Abbey Road Studios has shared details of this year’s Equalise Festival, which will return for its sixth annual edition March 3-8.
In conjunction with International Women’s Day, the London event will provide young creatives with the opportunity to work with female and non-binary artists, producers and engineers through hands-on learning.
This year’s Equalise programme features workshop sessions from rising names including Aziya, Divorce, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Fiona-Lee and Flowerovlove, with a final act to be announced.
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The respective acts will each record a new piece of music as part of their studio session, while aspiring engineers and producers will be invited into the room to observe the creative process. Producer and harmonica player Sarah Meyz will oversee the sessions alongside Marta Di Nozzi, assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios.
Those interested in participating in Equalise Festival 2025 are encouraged to enter a ballot, where they can submit their work for consideration using the official form here. Entries will close this Sunday (Feb. 23) at 11:59 p.m., and winners will be notified the following day (Feb. 24).
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Speaking about Equalise 2025, the studios’ managing director, Sally Davies said in a statement: “I am incredibly proud that the Abbey Road Equalise program is entering its sixth year. At Abbey Road, we believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive music industry and Equalise plays a vital role in creating opportunities for talented young women and non-binary individuals.”
She continued: “By providing young talent with access to our facilities and mentorship from our engineers, we hope to empower the next generation of creative talent to shape the sound of tomorrow. Equalise is not just about providing technical skills; it’s about fostering a supportive community and breaking down barriers for underrepresented voices.”
Since its inception in early 2020, Abbey Road Equalise has delivered a multitude of events coinciding with International Women’s Day, Pride and Trans Day of Visibility, all with the intention of highlighting the need to drive greater gender balance in the music industry.
The site of the world’s most well-renowned recording studio, over 93 years, Abbey Road has welcomed the likes of The Beatles, Oasis, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Florence + The Machine into its hallowed recording spaces. Last year, it played host to the official live ceremony for the Mercury Prize.
Tyla becomes the first African solo artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify with her 2023 breakout smash “Water,” Spotify confirmed Wednesday (Feb. 19). “Water” was released as a single on July 28, 2023, via FAX and Epic Records ahead of her self-titled debut album last March. The song, which included official remixes featuring […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Bigger doesn’t always me better, especially when staying hydrated on the go. Larger water bottles and tumblers have become a trend, […]
The first listen to the new Lee Brice single, “Cry,” can feel confusing.
The heart-broken lyric is easy to grasp, and the hook-filled chorus is practically a celebration. But when Brice shifts into an ascendant “Baby, baby, baby” melody about 40 seconds in, it seems momentarily as if “Cry” has broken into the chorus. Instead, the production simmers back down for an additional 60 seconds before the chorus officially begins.
That “baby, baby, baby” thing falls where songwriters typically place a pre-chorus, a short segment that eases the listener from the verse into the chorus. But, since the “baby, baby, baby” moment grows in volume, then slides backward, it operates like a reverse pre-chorus, playing a bit of a head fake with the listener.
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“That kind of threw me when I first heard it,” Brice concedes. “I was like, ‘Oh, is this the chorus?’ I mean, I didn’t know, you know – is it part of the verse? It was unique. But it didn’t throw me off as far as whether I like the song or not.”
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As “Cry” continues its three-and-a-half-minute run, that “baby, baby, baby” melody appears repeatedly in the background – sometimes quietly, sometimes louder – turning that quirky, counter-intuitive piece from a stumbling block into a unifying element.
“The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘Is that the chorus?’ – the ‘Baby, baby, baby,’” producer Ben Glover (Chris Tomlin, Anne Wilson) says. “And then I was like, ‘No,’ but it was cool. And then I heard the chorus hit, and I was like, ‘Well, I love that chorus.’”
“Cry” clearly works differently than the typical country song, and much of its peculiarity was embedded by the songwriters – Dallas Davidson (“Boys ‘Round Here,” “What Makes You Country”), Ben Hayslip (“Honey Bee,” “Small Town Boy”) and David Garcia (“Meant to Be,” “Southbound”) – when they gathered in Garcia’s office in 2019. Hayslip announced at the start of the session that he wanted to throw out the rules and write something that inspired them, rather than trying to craft something for the marketplace.
Davidson hails Otis Redding as his favorite singer, and Hayslip counts “When a Man Loves a Woman” as his favorite song, and it wasn’t long before the three writers started chasing a song with pieces of soul and doo-wop laced over their country tendencies. Garcia built a musical track with a chord pattern rooted in the 1950s and ‘60s. Davidson had begun experimenting with improvisational melodies, and he positioned himself at a microphone and belted out what became the basic structure of the first verse, beginning with a keeper line, “Who says a man don’t cry?”
“I sang my heart out, and I mumbled and stumbled, and, you know, this [or that] flew out, and they’re going, ‘Hey, see try this,’” Davidson recalls. “Then we’d sit back down and we’d type up a line. I’d go back in there and I’d sing it, and it was fun, man, but that was a total freestyle.”
And part of that freestyle included the “baby, baby, baby” reverse pre-chorus. They kept it.“On normal days, if we’re trying to write a radio hit, in our minds, we don’t do that part right there,” Hayslip notes. “But on this particular day, the mindset we were in was ‘Let’s just write something cool and different and write it for us.’”
The verses played up the drama of a tormented heart, the opening “Who says a man don’t cry?” providing the theme for subsequent variations: Verse two asks, “Who says a man don’t hurt?” and verse three follows with “Who says a man don’t beg?” That latter line was a nod to The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.”
“I had a lot of Motown going on in my head,” Davidson says. “All my favorites were talking to me – from Sam & Dave, Sam Cooke to Otis. There were a lot of voices in my head that day, going, ‘Sing it like this, boy. Sing it like this.’”
Garcia intensified his playing when they arrived at the chorus, and that turned “Cry” from a ballad into more of a Motown-like party with an energetic sound masking the self-pitying story.
“When he was playing on the chorus, this whole song became what it was,” Hayslip says. “When we first started writing this song with the verses, I don’t think we envisioned this song becoming what it became. We were writing a sad song, and the more the track kept going, we’re like, ‘Hey, this feels like an uptempo, feel-good song.’”
Meanwhile, Brice – on a day that he was working with Jerrod Niemann – invited Davidson over to his studio to hear his next album. Davidson was impressed by the project, but also thought it was missing one element, which could be filled by “Cry.” He played Brice the demo, and Brice immediately asked for rights to record it and started building his own version, playing guitars and keyboards, plus offbeat percussion – he employed a washboard, and played kick drum and snare with his thumb, instead of a drumstick. Niemann chipped in on percussion, and – according to the credits – so did the Holy Spirit, who didn’t actually sign the Musician Union’s session card.
“We had the real Holy Spirit with us,” Brice says with a laugh, “and he didn’t want no money.”
Brice laid down a lead vocal within a few days, though he struggled a bit and decided to give it all he had on one final take so that he would have a guide for the rest of the recording process. “I was sick, and I just threw it down,” he says. “I had to sing through it one time because I knew I needed at least a scratch vocal on there, and that ended up being the vocal on the song, for the most part. I think I went in and I hit a couple spots, but it was so real. I had to stretch so hard because I was so sick.”
Brice turned it over to Glover, who called on other musicians to work on “Cry,” and the team would frequently keep parts of a performance, then enlist another player to do more. As a result, the final features two basses, four electric guitars and four keyboards, plus programming from four different contributors.
They used some of Davidson’s demo vocal for harmonies, and took pieces of his quirky “baby, baby, baby” pre-chorus and threw them around the track, each sounding a little different from the others. “If it’s gonna be a thing,” Brice reasons, “let’s make it a thing.”
Glover added plenty of supporting vocals, too, including a section with Beach Boys overtones, and some electronically altered voices. Glover similarly applied filtering to a Hammond B-3 around the three-minute mark. “It sounds like R2-D2,” Glover says.
Niemann played a steel guitar solo, and Glover gave that its own sonic treatment. “We wanted it to sound a little bit like John Lee Hooker or that really nasty early Stratocaster,” Glover adds. “It sounds like it’s played through a tiny little amp – that kind of charm.”
In the end, “Cry” folds in country, old-school and doo-wop, but with enough modern elements that those retro influences sound current – think Amy Winehouse or Meghan Trainor. Curb released it as a single Jan. 31 after Brice identified that sound as a potential next wave.
“I started even hearing demos coming in where more people are doing this kind of vibe,” he says. “I don’t want to be following it. I want this to come out first.”