Destructive and adorable.
Multi-talented muso Joyride has returned to action with smooth new single Kings & Queens, complementing its release with a vibrant new clip in which he builds — and then fucking dismantles — a cardboard model of Sydney with his nieces.
Filling their box-town with the sorts of shady figures that permeate actual city life, Joyride says the song indeed stemmed from a place of dissatisfaction with the way of the world, being written "on a day where I was feeling particularly upset about how the powers that be are hamstringing our culture, vibrancy and diversity".
"Fuck them," he said in a statement. "A community derives its worth from the entire sum of itself, not just the self-appointed top tier. If you come for our happiness, why can't we come for yours? I was particularly cross that day, I guess."
The delightfully danceable, AutoTune-laced new jam is Joyride's first release for Dew Process/UMA, and grows from enticing, minimalist roots to build towards its ebullient, layered climax. Both the song and its accompanying clip are a lot of fun, but underpinned by an inescapable sincerity and seriousness that peeks through despite the One Day/Meeting Tree alum's oft-jokey persona, especially when speaking of his co-stars.
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
“My nieces are cute AF," he said in a statement. "I hope they can grow up in a city that trusts them to be the best versions of themselves.
"I'll show them the video at their 21st birthdays and hope we can look back and laugh at how shit we were being treated by elected officials and CEOs because it seems like a faint and distant dream."
The video for Kings & Queens was directed by the good folks at Entropico, and the song is taken from his forthcoming debut full-length, Sunrise Chaser, due out early next year.
In the interim, you can pick up Kings & Queens for keeps from this Friday, 14 July. Grab it here.