Johnny Dynamite exists within the same intersection of post-punky new-wave and AOR nostalgia as Alex Cameron, Sean Nicholas Savage, or Korine, with his newly announced self-titled record (sans The Bloodsuckers) even tapping the latter’s Trey Frey for production duties. The first single from Johnny Dynamite signifies a continuation of the songwriter’s emphasis on narratives of youthful longing to fit the backing synthwave instrumentals, with “Helpline” sounding like a dead ringer for an ’80s radio hit were it not for a few expletives.
According to Dynamite, the song was “[w]ritten from the perspective of a late-night crisis operator who keeps getting calls from the same stranger.” The track’s moody music video—starring the artist in a Springsteen-Born-in-the-U.S.A. bandana, and featuring a warm visual style that otherwise brings the decade he pulls inspiration from to mind—emphasizes these themes by opening with Dynamite picking up the receiver on a landline with the words “1-800-WANNA-CRY” prominently featured beneath the number pad. “As the conversations intensify,” he continues, “the emotional weight starts to drain them, blurring empathy with envy for how alive the caller feels, even in despair. It’s the unraveling moment where burnout turns into surrender, and hanging up becomes the only escape.”
Check out the video shot by Dynamite in collaboration with Claire Wardlaw below, and pre-order the self-titled record here ahead of its May 15 release via Born Losers.
