RYL0 Taps Joji & PVRIS Collaborators For New Mixtape

Alt-pop singer-songwriter RYL0 is putting on a masterclass in artistic evolution.

The New Jersey-bred, Los Angeles-based artist has spent the past two years rising through the hyperpop scene, building a fervent community around her infectious personality, vibrant, catchy pop songwriting, and captivating stage presence.

In the process, she's amassed hundreds of thousands of streams, worked with artists such as Fraxiom, Sabby Sousa, and DJ Re:Code, and played shows alongside Arca, Kero Kero Bonito, Namasenda, umru, and Jimmy Edgar, as well as at the monumental Boiler Room x Subculture event in Los Angeles.

Now, the ever-evolving artist - who Paper Magazine recently called an "alt-pop breakout star" - is transferring her acute songwriting abilities from a palette of colorful, bombastic instrumentals to a more brooding, fiery style.

Today, RYL0 releases her new mixtape Fragments, a seven-track package that sees the artist morphing into a newfound maturity. While still retaining the charisma and indelible songwriting displayed on projects such as I'm the Best!! and I'm the Worst!!, Fragments pushes RYL0 into unprecedented sonic terrain and showcases her immense versatility.

Fans got their first taste of this new era with "Thru My Chest," a ferocious, biting alt-pop banger reflecting on the pain of a romantic partner's unthoughtful, brutal honesty. Produced by MOTHICA and Rebecca Black-collaborator David Burris with co-writing from Christina Galligan (aespa, Lexi Jayde), "Thru My Chest" is a vivid listening experience full of deep bass, thumping kick drums, and industrial percussion and sound design.

Next was "Only 1 Trying," a lavish drill-pop cut co-written and produced by frequent RYL0 collaborator Cary Singer ("Broke Nobody," "On The Run," "Down Bad," "Leave Me Alone") and Matias Mora (collaborator of Cyn, K.Flay, PVRIS, Rebecca Black, and more).

The rest of Fragments' tracklist represents a similarly thrilling, lavish presentation of genre-blending pop songwriting. For example, there's "See Myself Out," a shadowy alt-rock song featuring sinister electric guitar melodies and blistering live drums combined with immaculate electronic production. Produced by Joji-collaborator Tay Dex and Ab-Soul-collaborator Waine, "See Myself Out" shows RYL0 displaying her widely dynamic vocal range, oscillating between soft, intense delivery and howling bravado.

There's also the mixtape opener "Let It Go," an ethereal, ambient track with singer-songwriter/producer B4DFRi3ND. Produced again by Tay Dex, "Let It Go" is the second collaboration between RYL0 and B4DFRi3ND following their late-2022 track "F4r from P3rfect." "Let It Go" is a dazzling, atmospheric introduction to the project that showcases the two artist's heart-wrenching vocal talents.

There's also the forlorn pop track "4 What" produced by Cary Singer. Comparatively minimal, the song is a perfect interlude with its propulsive drum programming and tinkling synth sound design underlying RYL0's emotive lyricism and melodies.

The mixtape then sees RYL0 in unprecedented waters with the track "Pulling Me Under," produced by Low Poly. With raw, dirty basslines and garage-rock guitar chords mixed with sparkling synths and fast-paced percussion, "Pullin Me Under" feels like a DIY rock song with a futuristic edge.

Fragments then closes with the track "Not Giving Up," an epic, glitchy cut with an instrumental from Tay Dex and electronic music producers Chong The Nomad and Sweater Beats. With lyrics about persevering through turbulent romance in the context of a project that largely reflects on the intense struggles that can exist in relationships, "Not Giving Up" is the perfect thematic closer. Bassy, grand, and remarkably layered, the track's instrumental compliments RYL0's bold, booming vocal delivery and wraps up the mixtape in appropriately theatrical fashion.

Fragments solidifies RYL0 as an endlessly versatile singer-songwriter who can thrive in any musical context. This mixtape - with its murky themes and dark tone - is a cathartic emotional release that ties itself up in a satisfying bow. The question for RYL0, then, is what comes next in her amorphous artistic journey.

Listen to the new single here:

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