Chris LaRocca Shares HEATED UP With Complex CA

Canadian R&B singer and producer Chris LaRocca just shared a summer playlist-perfect single with Complex Canada, "Heated Up." The new track comes ahead of his just announced sophomore EP Saudade, out July 17 onLittle Italy / Believe.

Listen to "Heated Up"

Chris previously shared singles "Yard Sale" and "Dice Out" from the SaudadeEP, which takes its name from an untranslatable word only existing in the Portuguese language, describing a melancholic nostalgia and longing for a moment that never actually occurred.

A self-taught musician with soaring natural falsetto and punk rock past, Chris started producing in 2014 after years in Toronto's DIY scene as part of math rock/indie band Elos Arma. Working on a combination of synths and drum machines running into one another with no computer, he released a trio of humor-tinted EPs under the moniker SEXTAPE before diving deeper into his vision for expansive pop music made with real emotion and an incredible attention to detail.

Chris self-released his first single "Closer" in 2017, championed by the likes ofZane Lowe, before putting out his debut EP, Voila with standout tracks "Roses" and the Xavier Omar-remixed "Wild." Chris did all this while working 12-hour days at three jobs - tutoring, serving at an old age home and as in-home support for an elderly woman - to fund the project.

His upcoming Saudade EP explores memories & nostalgia, the cover art even featuring his dad in the 1990s at the age he is now. Chris elaborates, "'Saudade' is an untranslatable word that exists only in the Portuguese language, describing a melancholic nostalgia or longing for a moment or event that never occurred. A vague and constant desire for something that does not and most likely cannot exist. This is a feeling that is not only very familiar to me, but a feeling that heavily inspired this body of work."

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