Loren Beri Shares First-Ever Single 'My Brooklyn (Is Better Than Yours'

Brooklyn-based synth-pop artist, Loren Berí, shares his first-ever single, "My Brooklyn (Is Better Than Yours)," where Beri's longtime, idealistic idea of New York City meets the real experience of living there, as he takes an Instagram-versus-reality-like view of the city and finds the tangible satire. FLOOD Magazine, who premiered the single, says the song is "a wildly magnetic-and hilarious-homage to NYC." Along with the release of the single comes the announcement of Loren Berí's debut EP, Stray Cat Kingdom, a five-track collection written and recorded by Berí, due out June 22nd, 2022 and available for pre-order now.

Loren Berí grew surrounded by classical music, spending plenty of time at the piano, Berí began writing songs by the age of 15 and by college, he was bouncing around various bands before planting roots in New York City. After a naturally lonely and difficult adjustment period amidst a pandemic, Beri's debut EP began to take shape. After meeting and befriending producer O Mer, who produced and mixed three of the EP's five songs, a project began to solidify, catching the hearts and minds of both Kishi Bashi (of Montreal, Jupiter One, Regina Spektor) and Mauro Refosco (Atoms For Peace, David Byrne, Dirty Projectors), who are both featured on the EP.

Within the lyrics of the debut single, "My Brooklyn (Is Better Than Yours)," sits an alternate universe of characters, both real and imagined. Berí finds himself immersed within this world, as the characters careen around each other and further develop the story. Berí calls this imaginary version of New York City "Stray Cat Kingdom," and thus the title of the forthcoming EP was born. Each of the characters, icons and artists alike, bought the myth and were fooled by the romanticized version of New York City that was sold to them as children - just as Berí was - and now they're here in Stray Cat Kingdom.

Written, performed and co-produced by Berí himself, "My Brooklyn (Is Better Than Yours)" began as a joke on a lonely Friday night in Berí's Brooklyn apartment after deciding to put his career on hold. The lyrics, while being based on truth, narrate an exaggerated, satirical version of Beri's life. Synth-soaked and filled with honest, confessional lyricism, "My Brooklyn (Is Better Than Yours)" both establishes Berí as an artist to watch, and serves as a prelude for what's to come from the rising musician.

When explaining how the track came to be in an interview with FLOOD Magazine, Berí says, "This city's magical and absurd, but I think I wrote it about how the idea of a place can outgrow the place itself. As a kid, I absorbed the idea of New York City in movies, newspapers and magazines with its poets and folk heroes in the sixties, the scene around CBGB, Bill Murray staring up at a giant marshmallow man in Ghostbusters-and this is all the flame in 'like a moth to a flame.'" Beri continues, "You grow up and show up, you find a city you don't recognize from the movies, and your friends are all on tour the second you meet them. Then you live it long enough to add to this absurd, only partially real idea of a place-if you publish me droning on about this, we've added to the flame."

Loren Berí invites listeners to add to the flame and to come to visit his Brooklyn before stepping into Stray Cat Kingdom. Listen to the debut single, "My Brooklyn (Is Better Than Yours)" out everywhere now, and stay tuned for more from Berí via Instagram and Facebook. The debut EP from Berí, Stray Cat Kingdom, is due out June 22nd, 2022 and available for pre-order now.

Listen to the new single here: