Over the last decade, Pluto Jonze has proven himself to be not only a great song-writer and performer with a rather unique voice and style, but also an incredibly talented visual artist. The last few months of the year are set to be pretty busy for him as he gears up to release his upcoming eclectic alt-pop, piano heavy double LP ‘Awe’, out November 5th, but before that, PopWrapped are delighted to premiere his new double A-side single “New Morning High/Rumschpringe.”
About the creation of “New Morning High”, Jonze says: “I came up with that piano riff a couple of years ago and it felt like new beginnings… like emerging from the apocalypse maybe? I couldn’t give it the home I knew it deserved, there were so many different attempts to fashion it into a song. As the world disintegrated around it, I thought perhaps the riff could end up representing a coming-out-of-lockdown moment. Anyway, here we are. Still. Straining for that fresh start.
The breakthrough for the song came when I tried putting that chiller beat loop behind it, from there the intent of the song fell into place. It’s about acceptance, being comfortable in your own skin, the feeling like nothing can change your world and you’re ready for anything. The riff is still the original demo recording from when I first came up with it so there’s a sense to me of the song staying true to its original intention despite the marathon it’s been on. More than any other on the record, this track makes me feel warm and happy.”
He adds about Rumschpringe: “To me this song has this sense of the world running away from you. I’d just watched Devil’s Playground, this documentary about super sheltered Amish youths who have this one year where they sample life in the ‘real’ world, ‘Rumschpringe’, before deciding to either re-join the sheltered Amish community or leave forever. I was imagining what it’s like for friends from birth or siblings who end up being separated in this way.
A lot of focus gets put on the difficulties of the one who joins mainstream society, but what about the person who stays behind? To me this is a distillation of something that happens in mainstream society as you grow up. Will you remember me? At the same time, I was watching a lot of other artists who I’d toured or collaborated with having different levels of national and international success, and I realised that process is like something that sort of happens all the time in life. Reinvention. For better or worse. Artistically, romantically. And how do you feel if you’re left behind?”
New album ‘Awe’ is a testament to his evolution as an artist over the years; a truly vivid and epic dreamscape influenced by several classic romantic composers including Debussy and indie acts such as Beck and Tame Impala.
Give “New Morning High/Rumschpringe.” a listen below and for more information on Pluto Jonze, give his page a like on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.
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