Shallou loves a good sad-boy groove, especially if it can pass as an electro-pop bop. Today the Los Angeles–based producer debuts a dreamy single called “High Tide,” which pairs his lush, lose-yourself-on-the-dancefloor hooks with pulsing beats and shimmering guitar touches. Lyrically, “High Tide” finds Shallou clocking late-night “wandering thoughts of being alive” while trying to “take this heartbeat and make it whole.” But that searching quality ultimately gives way to something more cathartic as Shallou turns quarantine melancholy into bass-drop abandon.
“I started ‘High Tide’ in 2019, looking for a new high-energy cut to add to my live show,” Shallou, a.k.a. Joe Boston, says. “I couldn’t find the right melodies for it, so I reached out to one of my favorite writers in the genre, Jarrah McCleary, a.k.a. Panama. We discovered that we have a similar writing style paired with a breathy falsetto. We both related to this feeling of drowning during quarantine, and finished the song with only a Zoom meeting and a few emails!”
“High Tide”—out today via FADER Label—is Shallou’s second single of 2021 following “Heartaches.” Both tracks come after his 2020 album Magical Thinking, which he’s now supporting on his Long Way Home tour. Check out the track below.
