Immersing us with cerebral and enigmatic rising textures with a expanding pulsing beat, Seven Layer Piano Cakes open his latest release, Endgame with the introspective and vulnerable lyrics, “Five hundred weeks, should be, good cause to sing, a celebration, a home run, to show the world we won, but then we cracked, so hard, we frayed and we came undone…”

Seven Layer Piano Cakes is the alter ego of Justin Hoyt, who is a Los Angeles-based attorney and law professor. Endgame is a moody synth-based collaboration featuring emerging artist, VRL as co-vocalist. 

Speaking on the themes and influences of Endgame, Seven Layer Piano Cakes says, “The song is about the end and aftermath of long term relationships, and musically it is influenced by artists such as Beach House, Muse, Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, The Weeknd, and M83.”

We love the hypnotic synths and layered vocals with harmonies that not only resonate with us, but give the track a sense of luxury.

The track was co-written and co-produced by Hoyt’s longtime collaborator, Ian Stahl (Kingsize Soundlabs), and mastered by the legendary engineers Greg Calbi and Steven Fallone at Sterling Sound.  

The song expands with profound lyrical highlights such as, “building walls that kill romances, at a point enough becomes enough” and the nod to oneness “we’ll find the clarity of one”.

The hook, “this is our Endgame” really gets stuck in our heads, and as the song finishes we are reaching for the repeat button!

Endgame is the third in the Seven Layer Piano Cakes‘ “Chess Trilogy” of songs (the prior two in the trilogy were “Novel Opening” and “Middlegame”).  Whereas “Novel Opening” focused on the early days of the pandemic, and “Middlegame” touched upon issues of anxiety, depression, and apathy that many experience in early middle-age, “Endgame” is a hard-hitting banger about the complexities of the ends and aftermaths of long-term relationships.  

Although genre-bending in nature, the track has elements of dream pop, synthwave, new wave, and dark pop, all cohesively fused together. 

We have added Endgame to our New Music Spotlight playlist and have been exploring the wider discography of Seven Layer Piano Cakes including the Chess Trilogy, of course!

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