Robert DeLong Unlocks His Dark Mode with Playlist of DOOM: After DARK

Genre-bending producer, songwriter, and one-man sonic wrecking crew Robert DeLong is stepping into the shadows with the deluxe edition of his 2024 album Playlist of DOOM. Dropping June 20 via Round Hill Records, After DARK explores the introspective, late-night version of DeLong’s already explosive alt-electronic universe.

Led by the hard-hitting new single “SWITCHBLADE” featuring Luna Aura, the deluxe boasts eight new tracks that lean into gothic synths, glitchy textures, and emotionally raw songwriting. With collaborators like Mothica, Pahua, and LYELL in the mix, DeLong turns genre-hopping into an emotional art form—one that’s as reflective as it is relentlessly experimental.

To celebrate the release, he’s bringing the new material to life at two free shows at El Cid in LA on June 19 and July 3, promising fans a dark, high-voltage preview of what's next.

“SWITCHBLADE” is a massive, genre-twisting track—how did the collaboration with Luna Aura, Mothica, and Maize Olinger come together, and what did it unlock in you creatively?

SWITCHBLADE was a long journey of a track with seemingly humble beginnings. Mckenzie (Mothica) and I have known each other for years, and so a few years back we decided to do a writing session together. She spoke very highly of Maize and so brought her in to help “topline” (ie, help write lyrics and melodies). The vibe was strong that day, so as they percolated on lyrical themes and melody, I started to construct a track based on some of the sonic references on my mind at that time - the synth bass and surfy guitar leads of Depeche Mode, the relentless thick drums of Panther Modern meets Nitzer Ebb, a sort of frenetic simplified drum and bass energy, and that “Terminator” sound (the sort of signature chug chug *chug that bridges the transitions between some of the sections.) Initially, I had no thoughts of singing on this tune, and we didn’t know who it was going to be for, but a couple of years later, I gave it a shot and realized it was in an interesting and intense singing range for me, and also definitely needed a featured vocalist. Luna Aura and I had had sort of vague contacts with each other previously (we had intended to work together at some point and had run into each other at a local bar), but her song “Candy Colored Daydream” had flitted across my phone at some point, I really dug it, I reached out, and the rest is history! She really crushed the performance on this song, and her vocals seemed to complete the storyline of the song for me.

This deluxe edition dives into darker, more introspective territory—what does “After DARK” represent for you as an artist right now?

These deluxe songs had mostly been floating around and were in contention for the initial “Playlist of DOOM” record, but for whatever reason, they may have felt too dark or abstract to be a good fit for the album, though they lived in the same universe. Once the idea of the deluxe record was spawned, it became apparent which songs would work in this release. The “After DARK” theme was seemingly obvious - these songs seemed to all touch either on dark subject matter or had explicit references to the word “dark”, and the idea that the deluxe record was like the sort of seedy after-party to the shimmering daytime of the initial record was born.

Tracks like “soft boy” and “Deserve It All” show two very different emotional textures. How do you balance vulnerability with high-energy production?

To me, high-energy production is my baseline heartbeat, and contrasting that with vulnerable lyrics is a good way to Trojan horse a message or feeling into the listener’s psyche without them realizing it. I myself don’t often realize what a song’s lyrics are dancing around until a few listens in, but by that point, the message has crept into my mind in a way I can’t refute. This has almost always been my modus operandi when writing songs, and I think it comes from a place of growing up listening to really sad music that was slow and dreary, and later realizing that I do like to dance and freak out, but I still gravitate towards introspective or existential lyrical themes. Pairing these two things together is a delicate balancing act, though I’m not sure I would know how to do anything else at this point.

You’ve been known for your experimental live setup using game controllers and MIDI triggers. How are you evolving that experience for this new era?

The live show is constantly evolving - in the past few years, I have been heavily featuring a device called a “Laser Harp”, which shoots lasers towards the ceiling, and which I break the lasers with paddles, and each laser creates a sound. It’s hard to describe, but it’s quite the spectacle! Going into the release of “Playlist of DOOM: After DARK”, I am doing a couple of free shows in LA at El Cid on June 19th and July 3rd, in which I will be experimenting with some new live tricks, as well as opening the show up for more improvisation.

You’ve collaborated with artists across the genre spectrum—from K.Flay to Pahua. What draws you to a potential collab, and who’s still on your bucket list?

I’m drawn to collaborators who have a unique or specific voice in some way, both in the literal sense of how they sing, but also in the sense of perspective and vibe. There’s no plan with these things, really - I am very open and a fan of every genre, and if someone cool piques my interest or is sent my way by someone I work with, I am generally down to give it a try. As far as bucket list - right now I really love La Lom, Sextile, Pachyman, Sully (the jungliest, not the rapper), Logic1000, and even Samantha Crain - these are wildly disparate artists, but I think it would be amazing to collaborate with any of them. Also, the unattainable bucket list includes David Byrne, Ben Gibbard, Earl Sweatshirt, Juan Atkins, Kraftwerk, and, of course, Adele.