Los Angeles' evolving dark pop duo RAINNE returns with a haunting and mysterious single bound to shake your speakers entitled "Spiders."
Comprised of Annie Dingwall and Justin Klunk, the two classically-trained artists are well known for their sonic emotional catharsis and weighted darkness. Operating as a reflection of their home city, RAINNE has become a must-see act around Los Angeles through performances like the We Can Survive benefit at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring staple artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Marshmello, and more.
The acclaimed duo is eager to bring listeners into yet another hazy and dark pop tune with their recent single, "Spiders." The single offers a cinematic blend of contemporary dark pop sonics merged with dreamy saxophone elements and eerie string sections. Annie Dingwall expands on an ominous lyrical theme while Justin Klunk feeds the production with the utmost power and pain, delivering sonic sweets to our ears.
Without further ado, "Spiders" opens with Annie Dingwall's filtered vocals alongside a haunting electric guitar melody that drops into a modern dark-pop beat. With help from Nico Collins' intense and complex production, he sweetens our speakers with heavy bass-like synths and accompanying sub-bass that vibrates our speakers with incredible power and heat.
Taking a listen to Annie Dingwall's lyricism, she expands on a story where she's surrounded by metaphoric spiders that haunt her days and spin her into webs that induce deep states of reflection regarding the wrongs that linger in her mind. We adore this song's contemporary dark pop feel; it's more than evident that RAINNE has mastered said sound.
Welcome back to BuzzMusic, RAINNE. We're always excited to chat with you about your recent endeavors. What inspired the creation of your dark and mysterious single, "Spiders?"
Annie: Thanks for having us back! “Spiders” is actually the culmination of a few different ideas. When I got in the room to write with Nico, I told him “I have this crazy idea for a creepy lullaby about spiders – want to work on it with me?” and he did! So we took that idea and ran with it. We also had previously discussed creating a song that would strongly feature Justin’s saxophone (like “Talk Dirty” or “Thrift Shop”) since, on most of our other songs, the sax is used in more unconventional ways. We ended up combining these ideas and creating this dynamic sax hook to balance out the more subdued vocal melody.
When writing lyrics for "Spiders," how did you come up with the metaphor of spiders haunting your every move? Why did you choose the theme of spiders to reflect your inner turmoil?
Annie: The metaphor hit me one day when I was trying to find a way to explain what it was like to have thoughts in your head that you just can’t turn off. I would lie awake for hours trying to clear my mind to fall asleep, and the harder I tried to stop the thoughts, the more they invaded my mind. I felt that was pretty similar to when people notice a spider (or another bug) crawling in their house and find it hard to just ignore - the more you don’t want to think about it, the more you do. These uncontrollable ideas have a way of spinning a web of thoughts upon thoughts, and before you know it you’re stuck in this spiral and can’t get out. Writing this song helped me come to terms with this kind of anxious thoughts, so I thought it only fitting to pair it to a creepy, lullaby-like melody so I could finally put them to bed.
Regarding Nico Collins’s profoundly intriguing production within “Spiders,” how did you all achieve such a powerful and stimulating sound? What sort of feel or atmosphere were you aiming for with this single?
Justin: Working with Nico is always such a treat. He has an incredible talent for finding the right textures to convey very specific emotions within a song. We were looking for something that not only presented the song in the best way possible, but a song that would also fit sonically with what we’ve already accomplished with “Psycho Killer”, “Monster”, and “Nosebleeds”. Having worked together before on “Nosebleeds,” Nico knew exactly the type of drum and bass sounds needed to create the groundwork for this. He also picked a lot of big strings hits and drum impacts so that the song would not only be creepy and infectious but also incredibly danceable.
We've noticed that you haven't released an EP since your acoustic project in 2020. Are there any talks of a forthcoming EP or album in the works? Or do you plan to continue releasing singles throughout the year?
Justin: Right now, we’re continuing down the path of singles. As we’re an independent band, we want to make sure we give every song the proper care and strongest platform we can, so dedicating our energy towards one song works best for us right now. When we created the “bitch.” EP, we had a very strong conceptual idea for the collection that coincided with wanting an outlet for our acoustic arrangements and the inability to perform due to the pandemic. Recording “bitch.” was an amazing creative outlet for us and we are glad that the pandemic provided us with the time to record it. And we definitely want to do it again!