NYC-based Japanese producer and musician rei brown teams up with Joji for his second single ‘Thinking Bout You’.

‘Thinking Bout You’, the new single by rei brown, comes ahead of his forthcoming full-length album,ย Xeno, out July 8.

A song that perfectly captures long distance love, as previously heard in ‘Could I Be Somebody’, dives deeper into the cinematic, dreamscape world the musician had begun to build.

The spacious, otherworldly track hopes to keep the two together as they confront their issues and the distance between them asking, “Weโ€™re ascending barely hanging on / Whatโ€™s this planet that weโ€™ve landed on?

The chorus sets the scene for the track, depicting the pain of remaining in a long distance relationship. Rei reassures his partner that even though he has to leave, they remain on his mind, singing, “Barely made my flight / We were up all night / Now Iโ€™m thinking โ€˜bout you / When you look to the sky / In the middle of the night / know Iโ€™m thinking about you.

He explains,

“I wrote my part mostly in the context of a long distance relationship. There are hints in it that suggest it takes place in a different more sci-fi reality.”

 

The latest single marks the second collaboration for the pair, after rei joined Joji on his 2019BALLADS1 Tour and later made an appearance on the singer’s 2020 album Nectar, on the track ‘Normal People’.

rei brown will release his 15-track alt-pop LP Xeno,ย an album that explores identity and queerness, sprinkled with sci-fi and cinematic nostalgia.

Explaining the origins of the title, rei shares,

“I think the word Xeno is essential, itโ€™s why I named the album Xeno. Itโ€™s how Iโ€™ve related to the world for most of my life โ€” as other, a foreigner, a stranger. Songs talk about being metaphorically and literally being an alien.

I think people can make Xeno mean whatever they want it to mean to them, but that it is an experience that a lot of people can relate to in one way or another.”

Listen to rei brown via Spotify below.

Photo Credit: bbyclaude