
I have to imagine Nieri wrote his indelible, latest single "Where Would You Drive" with strobe lights and fog machines in mind. If not, he miraculously created the perfect companion to the club staples. There's the thunderous bassline, calling to mind the warped club-pop of the early '10s, imbuing the single with a dark gloss. More starkly luminescent than colorfully vibrant, the whirling production blurs the dancefloor into a warped cosmos of electropop intoxication. Synths lurch and throb, like they're halfway between crashing and transcending. For all the dizzying motion, Nieri's vocals remain startlingly centered and clear. That is until the bridge, where his voice is coated in a metallic filter, as though merging with the electronic production. The turmoil doesn't just loom overhead, it envelops him entirely.
"Where Would You Drive" asks its subject to meet on the same page, though it begins in entirely separate books. "A letter on an empty bed," sets the scene in separation. Whatever this letter had to say, it only served to muddy the waters. Nieri cuts through in a demand to communicate—whether that results in clashing or mending. "I'm not here and you're not listening," captures the displacement at the heart of "Where Would You Drive?" As Nieri's voice loops on the last word in the titular question, it warps. At first, it's an attempt to reach this person: where do you go from the breaking point? As the question lingers, though, it becomes a call to action. There's no solution in escape.
Born in Milan, Italy, the now LA-based artist Nieri has a unique and universal vision for pop music. His electrifying songs find a surprising humanity in their electronic gloss. The authenticity of his self-expression and willingness to explore his experiences through the vehicle of dancepop elevates his incredible sound to unique heights. In 2022, Nieri released his debut EP, Starshine, which brought the artist to new horizons with its high-energy bops. "Where Would You Drive?" releases as the lead single for his sophomore project, yet to be detailed at the time of this review. Performing on larger stages, reaching wider audiences, and catching the attention of bigger names, Nieri is undeniably a dancepop star on the rise.
Written By Andy Mockbee
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