RYL0 Taps Gold Record-Winning Producer for Synth Pop Single & Announces New Mixtape

Underground pop singer-songwriter RYL0 is an expert world builder. Since releasing her dual mixtapes I’m the Best!! and I’m the Worst!! - alter ego projects that showcase the artist’s refined narrative sensibilities - she’s folded a passionate community into her ever-expanding sonic network.

After finding footing in the Internet Music/hyperpop community, she’s kept those fans through each era due to a consistent stream of colorful, melodic songwriting; charismatic vocal deliveries; and diverse choice of experimental electronic instrumentals.

This style and work ethic have led to collaborations with Fraxiom, Sabby Sousa, and DJ Re:Code; performances on lineups alongside Arca, Ayesha Erotica, Jimmy Edgar, Alice Longyu Gao, That Kid, Namasenda, and umru; and placements in platforms such as Paper, Grindr, Line Of Best Fit, Lyrical Lemonade, and LA Weekly, as well as Spotify playlists such as New Music Friday, hyperpop, and Fresh Finds.

A storyteller at heart (and film school alum), RYL0 is exploring new worlds once again. Next month, the versatile artist will release a new mixtape of pop-forward bangers - an homage to her pop music fanaticism and a statement on the malleability of pop as a concept. To be a popstar is to buy into the artifice, and RYL0 is shape-shifting into that persona by commencing a new era that will deliver show-stopping pop tracks and visuals filtered through her singular artistic vision and personality.

Listeners got their first taste of this sound with the track “People Who Don’t Love Me,” a collaboration with Katy Perry-signed producer/songwriter Matias Mora (Cyn, K.Flay, PVRIS, Miya Follick, Rebecca Black) Rina Sawayama-songwriter and Halsey-guitarist Vic Jamieson - an explosive, anthemic bop that is as catchy as it is relatable.

Next was “Loud Sex,” a vivacious, euphoric extravaganza that mixes 80s pop aesthetics with contemporary production sensibilities and a lavish, sensual central theme.

Today, RYL0 unveils “What U Need,” a spellbinding synth-pop track featuring hyperpop artist B4DFRi3ND (their third collaboration following “F4r from Perf3ct” and "Let It Go") and singer-songwriter/DJ and model ko aka koala, and produced by Gold record-producer Taydex (Joji, Jon Batiste, Dawn Richard), and XG-collaborator Xansei.

Vibrant, funky, and filled to the brim with lush, effervescent textures, “What U Need” expands RYL0’s musical realm even further, seamlessly blending her ear-grabbing melodic sensibilities into a new genre framework.

The track kicks off with the song’s central keyboard chord progression before fading in its melodic synth motif. B4DFRi3ND then enters with the first verse, flowing smoothly over a pounding four-on-the-floor kick drum before the beat drops into a groovy, infectious bassline. 

Next, in the pre-chorus, B4DFRi3ND coos over spacey synth pads and rising breakbeats before the song explodes into the chorus that sees RYL0 singing an indelible, irresistibly catchy hook. “You think you know me, but I don’t know myself/Think you love me, but I was somebody else/When you told me, I’m your only/Can’t be what you need,” she belts before ko aka koala echos the song’s title in the background, imbuing a tragic pathos into song’s uplifting, jubilant presentation.

ko aka koala then comes in for the second chorus, singing a playfully melodic verse that adds another dimension and perspective to the track. After another chorus, RYL0 goes solo for the bridge, a comparatively sparse section that blasts into the final hook - an illuminescent closing section that incorporates sweeping backing vocals and angelic harmonies to finish the song in a deeply cathartic fashion.

With a bold sound and memorable, adept lyrics, “What U Need” finds RYL0 easily finding a home in bright synth-pop aesthetics, and further solidifies the artist as a popstar on the rise. 

Fans can catch RYL0 perform tracks from this era at her upcoming performances at Purgatory in Brooklyn, NY, and at Subcultures’s 5th Year Anniversary in Los Angeles, CA.

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