Logan Square-based producer Otherly toiled for the last three years in his bedroom studio crafting Darkling, an LP he says was heavily influenced by a “serious bout of depression.” Our first glimpse at the fruit of that long labor is “Leave,” a track whose twinkling atmospherics and loitering beat are enough to make you feel like you’re drifting away from Earth and into the cold expanse of outer space.
That sense of isolation is no doubt a reflection of Otherly’s self-imposed exile. He notes that the song “is about feigning intimacy to simulate the feeling of a relationship,” one that “you’re faking so you can feel the real thing for a short period of time.”
That isn’t to say “Leave” is a burdensome listen. Otherly smartly enlists long-time friend and collaborator KSRA for the vocal work, lending the song seductive gravity. Her voice winds and whispers over Otherly’s echoed percussion and synth swells with the lascivious focus of a lover’s lips, drifting from collarbone to earlobe. The video, directed by Otherly himself, succeeds in matching the song’s brooding sexuality with images of disposable intimacy that feel borderline voyeuristic.
Now that we’re all hot and bothered, Otherly is playing coy, stating that Darkling “will be released eventually.” Ever the tease, he also indicated we’d be getting some more new music soon. Until then, “Leave.”
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