Our hearts were all warmed back in September when 311 super fan (and vaporwave titan) George Clanton was able to talk Nick Hexum into teaming up on a pair of tracks—and were equally elated last month when they dropped another loosey, confirming the collaboration was more than just a novelty project. Instead, “Under Your Window” and its predecessors sound like the product of a totally mutual bond, Clanton finding inspiration in his muse and Hexum sounding reinvigorated by dipping his toes into an entirely new genre.
RELATED: The Story of 100% Electronica
“Out of the Blue” is the fourth single the duo has shared, and it falls directly in line with the downtempo hypnagogia of their earlier tracks. Swapping hints of reggae for ’90s trip-hop, “Blue” is the story of a run-in with the cops Hexum had in the ’90s with a stash of weed in his glove compartment. “‘Out of the Blue’ is a whimsical and nostalgic look back at my teenage years driving around a rusty Corolla,” he recalls. “George has influenced me to conjure nostalgia sonically, so the lyrics that his tracks inspire tend to look back to innocent times.”
Of the recording of the single, Hexum continues, “The way these songs came together is he would send me a track, and then I would put it on repeat in the evening and strap on my guitar and let my fingers wander until they stumbled onto something really interesting. Then I would record it properly the next day and send it back to him, and he would twist it and turn it and make it better. Collaborating with George has been a fun and easy process and I’m super excited for people to hear this!”
“Out of the Blue” is out on DSPs today via Clanton’s label 100% Electronica, and you can order a physical copy here. Clanton will additionally be headlining a New Year’s Eve show with Negative Gemini, VAPERROR & dds at the Lodge Room in LA, which you can get tickets to see here.
