In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are modern musicians who champion an art form more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.
Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It,” where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.
“Lonely” — Dragonfruit
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How We Found It
Dragonfruit entered our radar when Tyler Jones picked out their track “Apples” from our SubmitHub inbox in late 2020. Since then, Tyler’s written about this year’s “Know Better,” which ended up being the precursor to “Lonely.” This string of singles is in preparation for the Rotterdam-based group’s debut album, Gears of the Giant Machine, which will be released on Oct. 8, 2021.
Why We Like It
“Lonely” is a beautifully written tug of war between maturity and shamelessly wallowing in sadness, but fucking hell: before we get to all that I have got to talk about this instrumental. I love music that has a bit of an edge to it, and Dragonfruit produced something that finds its greatness in the clash between styles. All in one, “Lonely” gives me the stank face of a Preemo beat and the will to dance like a smooth R&B groove. Soft keys, distorted vocal samples — it feels tailored to me, it is my happy place.
Ironically, “Lonely” is a lyrical exploration of despair. Danique van der Vlugt lulled me into thinking the track would be a typical message of empowerment detailing the joys of being alone, singing “I might even get to know me.” However, the track takes a tonal shift as she stops crooning and starts talking. Starting her verse with the lines “I like the feeling of melancholy and loneliness / I know it’s not an achievement but I’m owning this” she commences a struggle between good intentions and harmful indulgence.
There is value in owning your sadness, accepting your emotions for what they are and getting to know yourself at your worst and best. Loneliness opens the door to emotion both good and bad, but it can just as easily close it behind you. Danique finds senses of peace and home in her sadness, places devoid of hope. Both in the beat and the writing, “Lonely” is a clash between two sides of a spectrum. Instrumentally we end up in a sweet spot, and lyrically, we never really land, unsure which is the right path to take.
From Dragonfruit
To me, “Lonely” represents an unhealthy pattern of pulling away from your social surroundings. When I was feeling down, I didn’t feel like meeting up with friends as much, since I didn’t always want to talk about what was going on with me. It’s one thing to feel a certain way, but I was afraid to relive certain thoughts and feelings by talking about it. In this period, I convinced myself I liked being alone and I needed to be on my own more. But in reality, when I was alone I mostly just felt really sorry for myself and started spiraling. Yes, it’s good to regularly make time for yourself: allowing you to take a break, relax, be able to let everything sink in and reflect on how you’re feeling. So, I’m glad “Lonely” can be interpreted in a positive way as well. But for me, ‘Lonely’ represents my justification of pulling away and having a lonely light and breezy self-pity party.” – Danique van der Vlugt for CentralSauce
More From Dragonfruit
As previously mentioned, Dragonfruit’s debut full-length project will be dropping on October 8th, build up your hype by checking out their Instagram page and their recent singles “Know Better” and “Apples.”
More to Discover
Subscribe to the CentralSauce mailing list so you never miss out on the freshest sauce. Check out this continuously updated playlist of songs Ryan has added to our Discovery section! Each track or artist has been featured in our “Why We Like It” section, so be sure to check out the page here on the site.
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