Kanye may have been one of the first tastemakers to combine emo-folk-pop with rapping, by grabbing Bon Iver for some key features on Dark Fantasy and Yeezus, but he certainly will not be the last. Pony Bwoy—a Minneapolis duo who are prepping their debut album on Justin Vernon-curated label Totally Gross National Product—lean heavy on this concept until it collapses in a splintering of sound vacuums and beat universes.
Their track “Dark Soccer” gurgles with embedded smooth murmuring vocal samples and above the surface, Jeremy Nutzman flows with a blink-and-smirk lyrical drawl echoed by incarnations of his own voice in robotic harmonies. Compatriot Hunter Morley strikes the sublime with production values that swing between castle-high synths and ground level insect-leg chirping noise. This song has the same careening fervor of a night soccer match—and when the floodlight hooks hit, it’s all euphoric down the field sprinting.
Stream “Dark Soccer” below, check out the equally goosebump-inducing “Aevum (Time Crawls),” congo-driven “Hallowed Ground” and look for their full-length out on July 16.
