II Redefines Modern Love with Cinematic Single “Found A Home”

Los Angeles-based indie duo II steps into bold new territory with their latest single, “Found A Home.” Blending the emotional resonance of Pop Rock with the sleek atmosphere of Synth Pop, the track serves as a poignant reflection on love, belonging, and the fragile spaces in between.

Formed by Claudio Parrone Jr. and Mauricio Guerrero Jr., II has built its identity on minimalist storytelling and emotional honesty. “Found A Home” crystallizes that vision, offering listeners an intimate yet cinematic journey. Inspired by the old-world concept of genius as a spirit that chooses when and where to land, the duo reimagines the myth through the lens of love. What if love, like genius, is a fleeting presence that only stays if it feels safe? The track explores this question through sweeping soundscapes and deeply vulnerable lyricism.

Musically, “Found A Home” is lush and deliberate. The duo layers atmospheric synths with soaring guitar work, building toward a cinematic guitar solo that captures both euphoria and fragility. Vocally, the performance balances quiet vulnerability with undeniable power, a delivery that feels both personal and universal. It is a song that could soundtrack a late-night drive, a first dance, or the quiet moment of realizing love may not last forever.

“Found A Home” is also the opening chapter of II’s upcoming project, House On Fire. The larger body of work will chart the arc of a relationship from passion to collapse. The next single, “Burn It Down,” leans into the toxicity and codependency that often follow such intense beginnings, while later chapters navigate heartbreak and moving on. Collectively, the project reveals the bittersweet truth behind the phrase “they get on like a house on fire.”

For fans of The 1975, James Blake, or Tears for Fears, II offers something rare: music that does not just tell a story, but listens to its listeners in return. With “Found A Home,” the duo sets the stage for a body of work that is equal parts intimate, cinematic, and unafraid of emotional depth.

"Found A Home" uses the myth of genius as a metaphor for love. How did this concept first come to you?

Claudio: This old myth of "genius" being something accompanying the person, rather than something that exists within the person, really intrigued me. So much so that I actually believe that to be true. After considerable deliberation with myself and others, I decided to present a new topic to the class. What if love were this way? What if the reason none of us can agree on what love is is because it legitimately IS different for each of us? What if the reason why certain people have such a hard time finding it is that it doesn't want to be found? What if love needs time alone? What if it only goes where it's needed? This idea swept me up in a whirlwind for a bit. I then took it a step further and asked, What if love finds its way back to you? Would it remember you? After all of its traveling and all of its new stories, how could it? Then, if it did, what would you do differently to keep it around? I tend to spend a considerable amount of time thinking about these hyper-romantic ideas. It's a hobby of mine.

Mauricio: I remember the day when Claudio came to me with the idea for "Found a Home". We went into the studio because he was like, "Dude, I have this awesome idea," And he just started going off… He painted this picture about Love, how it was something that we are obsessed with finding as a society.

We're looking for "the ONE" for the perfect person to "complete us" and that if we just FIND them, then everything will be well; that all will be resolved and we will never feel sadness, pain, or insufficiency ever again… But that's not how love works, is it? No, Love is a beautiful entity that finds you in different seasons, comes in and out of your life, hoping to see if you are ready for it to stay with you.

Now, often we aren't ready, and that's why it has to go. Often, we mistake other things for Love, or we misconstrue Love for something it isn't. When I tell you this, HIT, man, it really hit. Because it's true. Love needs to grow and develop just like you do. Love needs time alone to become the best version of itself, just like you do. So, hopefully, by the next time you meet, Love can find a home in you, and you in it.

Your music leans heavily on minimalism and atmosphere. How do you decide what to leave out versus what to layer in?

Claudio: I think a painter would probably answer this the same way. Not every painting needs to be busy. Nor does it need to include every color on the spectrum. This first track, "Found A Home," definitely has some space to it. I like to include space in the sonic element of the song if I want the listener to engage more deeply with the lyrics.

The lyrics in this song are very conversational, which could lead the listener to assume that I'm talking to a person. I never write things with the hope or expectation that people will interpret them in a certain way. However, I do try to allow the songs to breathe, and sometimes that also gives the listener permission to focus on other aspects of the song. 

As far as atmosphere goes, when Mauricio and I started this project, we decided that we wanted it to carry the nostalgia of the 80s. We remember how things make us feel. I credit the fact that we still listen to so much music from that decade to the feelings it evoked.

Mauricio: As a producer, I feel like each song is like its own mini planet. And an album is like a solar system. So in a way every song is different, but orbiting the same sun. So, when Claudio and I started this project, we were both kids who grew up listening to all kinds of music, but gravitated to that sonic universe of the '80s. We were two sad boys (lol) who wanted to channel our feelings into these songs and create something that soothed our souls, and hopefully, others' as well. So we approached this from a place of nostalgia, as if we wanted things to turn out differently than they did, but knowing that was impossible. So what did we do? We listened to a wide range of music, including Tears for Fears, The Police, Hall & Oates, Prince, and Michael Jackson, among others. Our approach was simple: How can we capture the nostalgia we feel for music from that era, while still adding our modern touch to these sounds? So we played! In the creative phase, we played like kids in a sandbox, anything cool or anything that sounded sick went in, and we had FUN. Then, when it came time to trim, we were scientists, cutting guitars, vocals, and removing synths that we absolutely loved, but which didn't serve the song.

"House On Fire" tells a story across four chapters. Why did you choose to frame the project like a narrative?

Claudio: To speak plainly, I think music is slowly but surely making its way back to being album-oriented. The "single" era was a lot of fun. But people want an experience. Myself included. I've always loved the albums that take me for a ride from start to finish. Albums like Dark Side of the Moon, Welcome to the Black Parade, good kid, m.A.A.d city, Man on the Moon... In this case, Mauricio and I had gone through similar situations within a year of each other. This led to both of us sort of looking at one another like, "We gotta tell this story right?" It wouldn't be right to pretend that what happened to us wasn't reminiscent of an old Hollywood romance. Thus, House On Fire was born.

Mauricio: Growing up, my parents would tell me bedtime stories of famous musicians as heroes and heroines, and I would eat it up. The Beatles, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Phil Collins, Tears for Fears, and many others were my superheroes.

As I grew up, their albums started becoming more meaningful because I would realize that each album was like a snapshot into the lives of who they were in that moment. For example, "Rumors" by Fleetwood Mac, you can hear the tension and pain between Steve Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham as they navigated their breakup, while also being part of a band that had to see each other every day. That's what we tried to accomplish with "House on Fire" in a 4 chapter novella. We wanted to paint a picture of the cycle of Love coming, settling in, and then finally leaving. A cycle everyone who has ever loved someone is all too familiar with.

How do you want listeners to feel after experiencing "Found A Home" and the full project?

Claudio: I'd love it if they left "Found A Home" feeling woefully optimistic. I want them to be sad in a way that encourages them to move forward. I feel like we view sadness as a bad thing, something unnatural, or something that has to stop us in our tracks. 

"Just pause for a bit and feel it. Acknowledge it." Why is sadness so heavy that we can't carry it while we advance? Grief is one of the most human experiences we have. So, to answer your question more plainly: I hope they leave a little sad but excited for the future.

Mauricio:  I hope when people listen to "Found a Home" that they feel a little bit of sadness, but a LOT of hope. "Found a Home" and the rest of "House on Fire" tell a sad story that many people are familiar with —a story that many have lived through, but guess what? You're still here, you're still growing, and even though it feels like it's the end of the world, you're still kicking. I hope that when people listen to this project, they are transported to those moments, both good and bad, and that it inspires them to look forward and see that what comes ahead is always so much better.

What do you think is missing in the way love and relationships are usually portrayed in modern pop music?

Claudio: I think that we lean too heavily into the "love is pain" or the "love is immense sacrifice" or my favorite, "I'd die for you". What this does is subliminally tell us that if the person pursuing you isn't willing to change their entire life around or make significant sacrifices for you, they may not truly love you.

That idea is so unhealthy. I think music needs more honesty. More raw vulnerability. Music is very open — but open isn't vulnerable. Show me how much it hurts that they took you for granted. Walk me through the recovery of a toxic relationship, and don't skip the messy parts. Be honest. Be complex. Be human. More humanity in pop music would be nice.

Mauricio: One of my closest friends said, "90% of songs are about two things: falling in love or falling out of love — the difference is how you say it." I think modern pop music tends to focus on the big feelings. But what I'm missing is the YEARNING we used to hear… those iconic lyrics that would leave you with your jaw on the floor.

Like Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time, Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you…" Or Paul Simon's devastating "She comes back to tell me she's gone, As if I didn't know that, As if I didn't know my own bed." That's what's missing — depth without being inaccessible. That's what we hope to give people with this EP.