For the last few years, Philadelphia alt-pop artist Rentboy (aka Bobby Brown) has been delivering thoughtful, intensely evocative music that has routinely shifted its shape, trying on a myriad of different genres before landing on the minimalist club haze of last year’s Pay My Rent. Today (July 30), he’s announced Head in Unlit Homes, a new three-song EP written during a retreat to a farm in Nebraska, where the artist was inspired by the vast landscapes, radio stations and blue-collar men, resulting in what he refers to as “Deep Cowboy Pop.”
Alongside the announcement is lead single “Boys Talk,” a lively pop track with deep house elements that evokes the best of artists like Troye Sivan, but with a unique and satisfying palette of steel guitars and electric keys. Brown’s rich vocals trace a catchy and robust melody amidst the sparse instrumental, which feels simultaneously uplifting and sprawling, like the landscape in which it was written.
Says Brown of the single, ”‘Boys Talk’ chases the very teen, very gay feeling of being overwhelmed by masculinity—hating it, wanting it, failing it, finding it in friends, teachers and strangers you’re attracted to but have no idea how to talk to. Boys it feels like you have little in common with beyond being a confusing, desiring audience. It’s fun, but it’s also a very personal song.”
“Boys Talk” arrives with a Tyler Nelson-directed visual, featuring Rentboy performing the song standing among several shirtless dudes line-dancing. Check it out alongside the Head in Unlit Homes details below.
Head In Unlit Homes EP Art:
Head In Unlit HomesTracklist:
1. Easy 4 U (feat. AnnonXL)
2. Boys Talk
3. Halo Me
