The Chicago duo of Julien Ehlrich and Max Kakacek—a.k.a. Whitney—returned today to announce their follow-up to 2019's Forever Turned Around. Their third album is called SPARK and it's out September 16 via Secretly Canadian. "REAL LOVE," the first single from the project, is a bouncy pop track built on fuzzy, electro drums that details a desire for genuine affection when a relationship reaches its end.
“Max and I wrote ‘REAL LOVE’ in June 2021 right after a cross-country move back to Chicago," Ehlrich said." I was experiencing heightened levels of anxiety and panic, while the entire city was re-emerging from isolation. I’ve been running away from and self-medicating my anxiety for as long as I can remember, but for whatever reason, it felt like it was time to dive straight into it. During late night sessions over a two-week period, we captured the embrace of anxiety and fear in a way that resonated with us immediately. We spent the next few summer nights driving on Ashland with the windows down and the song turned up. It felt like an emotional and musical burst of light and we’re so grateful to finally be sharing that with people.”
Watch the Aaron Brown–directed video below, and pre-order SPARK here.
