Setting the tone with bright synths, glistening bells and immersive percussion as the track expands with guitars and vocal nuances, Wotts open their latest single Domino with the lyrics, “they go like a domino, back down where you gotta go, but you say that you wanna grow…”
The rising duo continue with cerebral and conceptual lyricism fusing futurism with nostalgia through their production.
Speaking on the track, the indie pop duo from Canada say, “[Domino is] very much 80s inspired, with some contemporary influences mashed in (M83, Dayglow). We really aim for nostalgic vibes in our music because that’s the type of music that tends to stick with us as listeners.”
We can totally feel that coming through in their soundscape and love the journey that the dup take us on, as they sing the hook, “crash and burn, you’re gonna break, domino you fall anyway…”
Produced by Jayem (the band’s vocalist & multi-instrumentalist), Domino focuses on someone with self destructive tendencies. According to Jayem, “The song isn’t a judgement on people that are going through tough times. We’ve all been there and some of us always have that struggle. But when I was writing it, I kept thinking of this one person in my life who can’t get out of their own way, who’s always falling into bad patterns”.
We are hypnotized by the instrumental bridge which is exquisite and takes us to another dimension with the elegant synth and guitar solo. The final moments of the song are super celestial and encourage us to hit the repeat button!
Ricky 100, the band’s bassist explains “I think we’re having a lot of fun with exploring new sounds and really trying to build an atmosphere with our music”.
For Domino, visual inspiration started in the form of the The Breakfast Club and Stranger Things. Jayem says “It doesn’t topically have anything to do with those, but we had them playing in the studio and I wanted to try and capture their aesthetics”.
The duo leaned on their ‘old school’ analog equipment to help get things going in the right direction, “The Juno 106 and DX7 were the perfect tools to have when we were putting this one together, you can’t get more 80s than those”, notes Ricky 100.
Domino has been added to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and we have been immersing ourselves in Wotts’ wider discography including Sunnyside and Return Flight!