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Photo: Nico Hernandez

A favorite amongst the genre-benders and boundary-pushers of the contemporary music scene, Jean Dawson is known for fusing unexpected sonic elements together to create music greater than the sum of its parts. His latest single, "THREE HEADS*," does just that and comes ahead of his second studio album, CHAOS NOW*, slated for an October 7 release and accompanied by his first-ever headlining US tour. 

Dawson is no stranger to the grittiness of self-reflection and the manic emotion it can provoke. In “THREE HEADS*,” the 26-year-old artist confronts these same themes in a soundscape as unapologetically multifaceted as himself. Opening with the sounds of two sharply contrasting electric guitars—one caustic and persistent, the other bright and snappy—the song quickly reveals itself to be an amalgam of distinct styles expertly stitched together and taut with blistering energy. And yet, seemingly effortlessly, Dawson manages to sew instances of sudden and dreamy vocal stillness into an otherwise agitated and snarling track. It’s a sonic pattern that reflects the varying sides of himself he incarnates as a “three-headed monster.” “My heads grow faster, get cut right after…Two heads chopped, I’m one now,” he growls. 

It’s this ebb and flow between frenzied elements and introspective moments that showcase Dawson’s uncanny sense of musical balance and his unabashed disregard for the conventional and the ordinary. Call it experimental indie rock, pop punk, nu-rave, whatever you like, but Dawson has once again succeeded at crafting a deeply unbound sound through the lens of an electrifying anthem about the multiplicity of the self. 

Watch the  "THREE HEADS*" video below: