The Melbourne pop artist’s new video is premiering exclusively on Crack Magazine.
daine is an 18-year-old purveyor of emo pop music. Her sound situates itself somewhere between the soft textures of DIY bedroom pop and something a little darker, inspired by formative interests in two disparate musical scenes: early ’00s Midwestern emo and Melbourne hardcore.
The Filipino-Australian artist has spent the last 12 months releasing tracks such as Ascension, Bloody Knees and the Danny L Harle-produced Angel Numbers, alongside her debut single Picking Flowers. She’s also picked up a swarm of admirers including former Crack Magazine cover star Charli XCX, who daine now cites as a mentor. Now, daine seems to be taking inspiration from the artists in her vicinity as she trades in her emo-tinged aesthetic for the neon hues of hyperpop. Her latest single, boys wanna txt, has been described as a “loving tribute” to the much-discussed microgenre. The track was co-produced by Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs and Ryan Jacob. It features rapper ericdoa.
“boys wanna txt is the child of my connection to a community I found during lockdown,” daine tells Crack Magazine over email. “During the pandemic I wanted to lift spirits and find new ways to be a part of a scene (as cringe as that sounds). So I launched my e-festival Nocturne. Fortuitously that landed me around many artists deemed under the infamous ‘hyperpop’ genre, and this song is me saluting this weird moment in time with eric, Dylan and Ryan.”
daine’s boys wanna txt visual comes from Oliver van der Lugt, aka DECISIONS founder Air Max ’97. Speaking on the new video, van de Lugt tells Crack Magazine, “boys wanna txt creates a hybrid IRL/URL personal space in which daine juggles a barrage of message threads and media from the comfort of a pile of text message cushions. Within this simultaneously intimate and infinite screen space daine talks connection, vulnerability and power over the course of a day and a night — with a video call from ericdoa along the way.”
boys wanna txt is out on 15 April. Watch the new video in the player above.
