¿Téo? Announces New Album & Shares New Single 'Don't Stare Too Long'

Colombian-American singer songwriter ¿Téo? (Mateo Arias) has announced the August 18 release of his new album Luna. Drawing from a vast well that includes hip-hop, alternative, reggaetón and even Brazilian bossa nova, ¿Téo? has organically developed a unique, neo-American sound ever since the release of his 2017 debut single, “Uno Dos,” which featured longtime friend and collaborator Jaden Smith.

With its hypnotizing vocals, cutting-edge production techniques, and vintage song structures and instrumentation, Luna finds ¿Téo? creating music is modern yet nostalgic, enveloping the listener in a cloud of familiar warmth.  

Today ¿Téo? also shares the LP’s latest single, “Don’t Stare Too Long,” which perfectly illustrates the emotions and honesty found across the album. Over a late-night beat and languid acoustic guitar melodies, he chronicles the inherent blurry lines between love and lust and truth and fiction, especially when the stakes are high: “It’s heavy on the eyes / And it’s hard for me to say no.”

“I think that’s my favorite songwriting that I’ve ever done,” Arias says of the track. “That story comes directly from my personal experience, but I think anyone can relate to those uncomfortable moments with a partner. It’s hard to stare at someone in the eyes when you’re dealing with something really rough.”  

2023 has seen ¿Téo? tease the album with the trap-leaning hip-hop “Final Step,” and “A Mi Cama” which was produced by Colombia-based producer Golden. The singles found support from Rolling Stone, Uproxx, and Consequence, among others.

This spring he played those songs and other fan favorites on his Sol & Luna coast-to-coast tour of North America that included numerous sold out shows (New York City among them) and a stop at Coachella where he played his own set in addition to being part of a bill featuring longtime friend Willow Smith.

¿Téo? and Willow’s brother Jaden are co-founders of the clothing company MSFTSrep along with his own brother and creative director Moises Arias. Previous to the Sol & Luna tour he opened 42 shows for Justin Bieber’s 2022 Justice tour.

Arias spent years of his young life acting in major television shows and films, so it’s no surprise that he views the music he makes as ¿Téo? with a highly cinematic eye. The energy, and even the sounds themselves, come to him as colors, and the emotions always come straight from the heart. Never has this been more evident than on Luna, his third full-length album and the companion to his 2021 critically acclaimed album, Sol.

And while Sol possessed a spontaneous, bright and airy feel in keeping with its concept of literally encompassing “everything under the sun,” Luna is more dark, sultry and mysterious – much like the moon itself. “What can nighttime mean? What are all the different things that can happen when the moon is out?”

¿Téo? muses of the theme behind the project, which was executive produced by John Blanda (fka twigs, Khalid) and ¿Téo? himself. Both albums include 12 songs, and when paired together, tell the story of 24 eventful hours in the life of this multi-talented artist who grew up fully immersed in American culture while being raised by Colombian parents in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Perhaps unconsciously inspired by the variety of music played around his childhood house, ¿Téo? fell in love with the piano in the lobby of his family’s Los Angeles apartment complex as a pre-teen. Even though he didn’t know how to play it, he dutifully sat and tickled the ivories every day until someone at the front desk politely asked him to knock it off.

Soon, his mom bought him a keyboard of his own, which he says “was a great way for me to translate my feelings. I’m a very emotional creature, so I’m very familiar with the color blue, which is why Luna is close to my heart. It’s easy for me to make a sad record, so I’ve challenged myself recently to explore some turned-up stuff. I make those records too, but the sad songs, it’s like I don’t even have to try. They just come, because that’s just my nature.”

Luna also finds ¿Téo? singing each song in only one language, rather than offering a hook in Spanish and the other lyrics in English like many other artists with Latino heritage. “I treat my music like the way I live my life,” he says of the decision, which showcases his natural ability to move back and forth between the cultures that run in his veins. “If I’m in a room with my mom and brother, I speak to my mom in Spanish and my brother in English. I’m separating them here, almost like a yin and yang.”

“I really care about making great music,” he states. “Yes, for the fans, but for my own sake as well. Making a great record is the end unto itself – there’s nothing I want to get out of it beyond that. That feeling I get when I hear a great song is unmatchable. That’s why I’m so passionate about music and why I want to take it as far as I possibly can.”

Photo by Moises Arias 

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