Jean Dawson's "POWER FREAKS" Is a Masterful Collage of Sound and Emotion

Photo: Nico Hernandez

Jean Dawson's music is a targeted endorphin rush. The 23-year-old musical and visual artist creates with a sense of contained chaos, balancing themes of grand empathy for the outsider and cathartic bursts of unrestrained self-confession. His latest single, "POWER FREAKS," takes this balancing act to newfound heights.

"POWER FREAKS" follows the release of "BRUISEBOY," continuing the trend of painting Dawson as an experimental pop purveyor of epic proportions. Opening in disarming fashion, flights of ethereal production bubble to the surface before Dawson extends an olive branch in the form of the repeating line "How many times do I have to say we're not enemies?" However, the sentiment, and in turn the soundscape, quickly evolves to a frenzied contradiction.

Every space of "POWER FREAKS" is soon pushed to its limit, almost to the point of bursting. Yet, even as new instrumentation, production, and Dawson's own chopped vocals jump in and out of frame, no piece feels out of place or unnecessary. Similar in form to a Jackson Pollock painting, each element is thrown against the wall with a sense of reckless yet controlled abandon, until what is left is a masterful collage of sound and emotional outpouring.

Dawson stakes his claim on making music for "kids like us." The outsider, those who grew up on the border, the kids who only found solace in putting every ounce of themselves into their art. The result is a sound and vision that feels miles ahead of everything else.

Listen to "POWER FREAKS" below: