Y2K aesthetics are slowly starting to fade. Though Juicy Couture is still waiting to make a full comeback and low-rise jeans were banned socially, the late 90s and early 2000s are being over-exhausted. Some artists like Tate McRae can channel that outrageous Britney Spears energy, but for others, it’s back to basics. On their new self-titled EP, The Heart Racers channel 80s synth-pop with crushing modern lyrics.
The new collaborative group consists of Kanii, Riovaz, and Nimstarr, all less than drinking age, but passionate creators of their artistry nonetheless. Each solo artist has cultivated a base of listeners, but perhaps by collaborating, they can rise to supergroup status. With each of them having previous viral hits, will this 4-track project hold any social media strength?
“tell me,” the opening track and second single from the EP opens strong. Their digi-pop keyboard holds a hard vibrato that repeats both in the song and in your mind. A Halloween spell of love, that sinks you deeper into the wanted heart the group sings about. “I need something real girl/Tell me if you with it or not”. It’s catchy, it’s cool, it’s The Heart Racers creeping onto the music scene.
Need a summer hit? “Diva” is almost there. Perhaps a spring-leading-to-summer hit. “She the baddest in the club/Shawty wanna mess with us I know,” they sing, letting loose from their other rigid love-focused tracks. Showing a suave mojo in their lyricism and letting their audience feel energy through their toes. “Diva” has fun with the three boys and doesn’t force an 80’s turntable spin. Perhaps it’s that early 2010’s vibe they need.
Music Video for Heart Racing
The self-titled inspired track “Heart Racing” continues on the group’s consistent creative choices on autotune and pitched vocals. The track is extremely clustered. Perhaps their love lives are so impeccably terrible that they had no other way to express it. The beat is still one of a kind – Hip bumping, disco dancing, and an arm thrower all in one.
The closing track, “lost without you” is a piece easily missing from Stranger Things’s 80s excursions. The pace is melodic, serene, and still danceable. Similarly to The Weeknd’s Delroean time travel cruising in “Starboy” and “After Hours”, The Heart Racers conduct a formula that allows for the track to exist in the past, present, and future.
Though some of their lyrics still feel underdeveloped, “And can you say why you had to leave?/Cause baby girl it’s been hurting me,” their sentiment allows for wiggle room with its hypnotic drum line. The track is a playlist must-have, a night ride with friends needing to happen.
Short but inspired, the 4-track EP is it for now from The Heart Racers. Kanii will be touring both solo and alongside PinkPanthress. Though no collaborations between the two artists have been announced, their similar affinities for a hyper-pop sound would make for Tiktok charter and a possible Heart Racers track.
