Three and a half years after breaking the curse, LA-based indie-pop songwriter Nathaniel Banks returns next week with his self-released second album as Arlie, Someone You Can Believe In. An ambitiously structured concept album full of dialogue passages and heavy lyrical themes of self-discovery, it’s precisely the type of record you’d expect a young artist to make after a trying period of working under the tight dictates of a major label.
The latest single Arlie is sharing ahead of the record’s release, “Provemwrong,” is a bit of a standout on Someone You Can Believe In. Penned in the midst of settling in LA, there’s clearly a catharsis to the track evidenced as much in its lyrics as in its breezy instrumental. “This is a comeback song swinging for the fences, an essential upbeat danceable firecracker as counterweight to the midtempo grooves that constitute the rest of the storybook album,” shares Banks of the track, a digital-age emo-pop track recalling Toro y Moi’s latest chapter. “‘Provemwrong’ is both fire-starting and forgiving, both combative and loving, at once directed at (specific) other people and directed at myself.”
Contextualizing the cut within the new record’s dramatic storyline, Banks adds: “This one comes after Arlie’s been accused of kidnapping and his manager is telling him to flee the state, but Arlie knows he’s innocent, and, for a moment, feels inclined to fight, though it’s not clear whether the voice in his head telling him to fight is angelic or demonic.”
I dare you to tell me your interest isn’t piqued! Check out the lo-fi visual for the track below, and pre-order the album on vinyl here, or digitally here.
