It’s been a while since we’ve been able to feature work from the amazing Portland-based DoublePlusGood. But Erik Carlson–who is the mastermind behind it all–is back and ready to release a new EP in August, titled Like A Fire. With that EP comes new music, and we have the first single off that EP right here.
“Take Me Dancing” is love song perfection. It’s like we have been transported back in time to a jukebox bar in a 1950s/1960s era romance film, and–suffice it to say–we are totally in love. The song has an incredibly vintage–almost purely vinyl–feel to it, the first notes delivered as if we just set the needle on to spin the track. Then come the vocals, which are deep and alluring, swoon-worthy, and lovely on a whole other level, characteristic of our dear friend DoublePlusGood.
We’re used to DoublePlusGood bringing us more poppy, synth tunes and even some that would do well in a Boy George lineup (namely, “Words Fall Asleep” where we see major similarities to “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”). We have found the pattern to be that the music is heavily 80s-influenced (and we love it), but “Take Me Dancing” strays completely from that ideology, leaving us begging (heavily) for more variety in his influence.
DoublePlusGood has done the music world right with this one, that’s for sure. We’d like to keep it in our back pocket, if you don’t mind.
DoublePlusGood on “Take Me Dancing”
The song is about asking someone for an authentic experience. As a gay man I’ve never actually been asked to slow dance with a man, and have always felt that there’s a lack of romance in modern dating. The shift towards phone app dating and internet dating has created these 2-dimensional representations of people, and not just in romance, but as a whole population. As a queer person, I’ve always felt like we’re judged from a distance rather than in person and on equal terms. As a whole, the song is about asking to be met on the level, to ask for someone to engage with you in a real-world experience, and to feel the vulnerability you share with your dance partner.
Like A Fire is available August 4 on SoHiTek Records.
