Lo-fi dance music has been getting increasingly popular over the past few years with the melancholy disco sound garnering a lot of love from the music community and I think the New York musician Glassio might’ve produced my favourite track in this genre yet. Nobody Stayed for the DJ is an utterly divine track that I find myself listening to over and over again without fail,
“I wanted to write a song about a DJ that has a micro-existential crisis during a set where they’re performing to absolutely nobody,” Glassio explains the meaning behind the song. “I’ve definitely been there many times where I’ve DJ’ed or played live to an empty room and thought ‘what am I doing with my life?’ and know a lot of friends that can relate to that thought. As the song progresses, the protagonist remembers a life changing song by someone they love on their USB, and finds refuge in playing that song for the rest of night – leading to them remembering why they love doing what they do. That was the original gist of it all. It’s sort of half hilarious/half tragic in my mind. I also reference two of the artists that have saved me during DJ sets that weren’t going so well (Yazoo and Gino Soccio). This is also sort of a love song to them both.”
The production is reminiscent of The Gorillaz during their Melancholy Hill era with these luscious pop melodies, shimmering synths that just draw you in and a beat that gets your foot tapping instantly. Then you’ve got the lyrics that take you on a journey where tragedy and self-depreciation meet unexpectedly with Glassio’s beautifully toned vocal delivering these lyrics to perfectly and when you throw in a killer hook into the mix, it’s hard not to just fall in love with this gorgeous single.
