(Day in Pop) Brooklyn-based experimental duo SORRYNOTSORRY recently released their new single "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" and to celebrate we asked them to tell us about the track. Here is the story:
SAM: I wanted to expand my knowledge of production, and I stumbled upon an amazing video of Jaime Altozano analyzing Motomami with Rosalia. There is a before and after in my life from watching that video. I thought it was incredibly generous of her to share a behind-the-scenes, something that very few artists take the time to do. And let me be clear, I've never been a fan of reggeton, except for Motomami, which in my opinion, is a masterpiece; it changed the way I think about music production. I love the minimalist approach, every single element is carefully selected to tell the story, and of course, her vocals are up front and center, stripped down from reverb or unnecessary effects, It sounds raw and honest. I loved that, and I was excited to apply it to my own music.
The first verse and title came from a book, the only object I still possessed from a failed relationship from the post-pandemic, crazy NY summer of 2021. It was a book by Chuck Klosterman called Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, and the lyrics manifested as the reckoning of what I thought had happened to me during that time. The session was therapeutic. It helped me understand how things had gone from fairytale to f-you. It gave me closure in many ways.
Andres: This song was an outlier in the creative process of the album. When Sam showed it to me, it was a beautifully raw composition, where you could feel the sentiment of every phrase. Because of this, it was one of the last songs we went into the studio for.
I was very careful when approaching it because it didn't feel like it needed to change drastically to be "finished," but we wanted to incorporate some elements that usually happened in our live performances.
Sam's bass guitar parts weren't in the track initially. We did various takes, each time going for completely different tones and intentions. This later proved to be the most interesting musical element of the song, at least in my opinion, contrasting against the synths in the track.
I did several guitar takes after the bass was laid down, pretty much just playing in the choruses and the bridge. It felt like one of those songs that doesn't need to have guitar all throughout, just specific moments that give it a little more dimension, and since everything else had no reverb or delay, having a nice delay on the guitar made the track open up.
In terms of vocals, I knew that my timbre and range would only work for the bridge, layering the "oooohs let the angels go" with Sam's voice going into the higher register. I love the way our two vocals blend in that section.
Lastly, the rhythm felt like it needed some dynamism and transitions, so we did some live pedals on the beat to give it some uniqueness.
This song was a case of a few elements carefully chosen after a lot of experimentation and playing the song live.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here
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