Finding their niche somewhere between the star-crossed dual vocals of Stars and the massive hooks and pop production of Sky Ferreira, DWNTWN's debut single "Transition" comes off like a radio-friendly pop smash masquerading as an accessible indie floor-filler. Beginning innocently enough, eerie droplets fall from the upper octave onto the dashboard as the female vocal shifts gears, adds a male passenger and goes from 0-100 in 8 seconds flat. Shining a light on that tragic post-relationship grey area, the single debunks all conventions of what is and isn't chart-worthy and vies for the stars and nothing less.The blunt jungle beats and cross-hatching sonic flourishes absorb the brunt of the heartbreak lodged deep in the verses. While DWNTWN lacks vowels, the track achieves supersonic consonance, marrying a Top 40 prechorus reminiscent of Sky's "ONE" with an ethereal chorus flaunting ice cold synths that sound as if they crash landed from the uncharted planet of M83. It's a big track, and with the incomparable DJ Skeet Skeet (y'all heard his new Foster The People remix? FUEGO.) helming the ship on the management side of things, you can expect to hear a lot more out of these two in the months to come. Get familiar.
MP3: "Transition" - DWNTWN [exclusive]