Brooklyn Experimental Quartet ALTOPALO Shares Song + Video Featuring Bartees Strange: “love that 4 u”

This week, altopalo shared their collaboration with fellow genre-bender Bartees Strange: “love that 4 u”, from their forthcoming album, frenemy, out September 23rd, 2022 via Nettwerk. LISTEN/WATCH HERE.

“love that 4 u” is “a zing track, a full diss dish, a big plate of “ugh dude.” laying all those needlessly critical and mean inner thoughts on the table that otherwise get externalized in toxic and icky ways. “what does the end signify? are we smiling and bearing it? hugging and moving past it? both.” The first line is literally “get fucked” – yet it’s playful and somehow soothing, too, ending in a lead out that feels so light and airy that all might be forgiven. True to altopalo, it’s expertly layered with intricate guitar textures, thoughtful percussion, and a cohesive coming-together of great ideas. The video by POND creative reflects that perfectly. 

WATCH & SHARE “LOVE THAT 4 U” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO HERE:

About “love that 4 u,” drummer Dillon Treacy says, “This joint is a diss track to ourselves. Every line in the song is a feeling one of us has had to the other and are all very honest feelings that we have talked about internally. We sometimes have a round table roasting where we’re like ‘hey, this thing that u do bothers me and imma letcha know about it.” IDK if it’s the healthiest but it works for us. Also, Bartees with the guest verse is something we’ve never done and I’m so happy he contributes to the spirit of the song. The ride out at the end has always represented the coming together after an emotional conversation. regardless of what we say, we come together and know that our love knows no bounds and we’re always gonna be there for each other.”

Bartees Strange adds, “I was really excited to contribute to this song because I believe in altopalo so much. They’re so bril. Also – I know how much they have been through as a band. So contributing a verse to a song that’s really about their journey to become closer was a gift.”

Veterans of the New York scene, the four members of altopalo – lead singer Rahm Silverglade, guitarist Mike Haldeman, bassist Jesse Bielenberg and drummer Dillon Treacy – have racked up tens of millions of streams and made fans at Pitchfork, Fader, Nylon, Billboard, and more for disintegrating the boundaries of genre, folding in elements of R&B, electronica, ambient and jazz through their deconstructionist approach to guitar-driven music. All four are professional studio & touring musicians outside of the band as well, working alongside and fostering a growing community of incredibly talented artists including Dora Jar, Moses Sumney, L’rain, Bartees Strange, Jon Batiste, Amber Mark, & more. 

Their forthcoming new album, frenemy, was in part inspired by the following but not limited to: freight trains that passed the house where they recorded the music – long long short long – train horns, astroturf, a black Chevrolet express van named “honk”, sand dunes, Lake Michigan at sunset, being naked in the water, Settlers of Catan board game pieces, big blue party bluetooth speaker, taco bell. 

“love that 4 u” by altopalo is out now via Nettwerk, buy/stream it here.

PRAISE FOR ALTOPALO
“With garbled singing, shuffling electronics, and fragments of conversation, the Brooklyn band’s new album dwells on ordinary and universal moments of alienation.”
Pitchfork
“a lush, ethereal wave of dream pop bliss”
Atwood Magazine
“sublime”
Grimy Goods
“a textured, hypnotic affair.”
Ones to Watch
“Bass lines are reversed, voices are pitched in different directions, and percussion is smashed into other sounds to create unfamiliar new modes.”
FADER
“…with the tinges of R&B, soul and pop filling out the meticulously constructed, cavernous rock soundscapes.”
Billboard
“one of the most original bands working today.”
CLASH
“the junk drawer in your house if it was music: bewildering and wondrous”
NYLON