Meet Samantha Urbani.
If you’re a fan of Dev Hynes (or Blood Orange), you’re probably already familiar with the singer-songwriter/Friends frontwoman because of her many contributions to Dev’s Cupid Deluxe, including the vocals on “You’re Not Good Enough.”
That being said, she’s yet to release her own solo music until just now with “1 2 3 4,” which is not a Feist cover, just in case you were like “Oh, like the Feist song?” Well, yes, it’s spelled that way, but it’s not that song, so come correct.
The funky, ’80’s-referencing synth-pop tune is filled with nostalgic synths and some killer bongo action (and do I hear rainsticks, even?), and has apparently traveled much of the country already: According to her description, the song was written and recorded in Dev’s old East Village apartment, co-producer Sam Mehran‘s Hollywood studio and in Bushwick with bass player Matthew Molnar — and also on the MetroNorth to New Haven, a train line I once rode daily for years…oh, hayyyy!
“Simple as 1 2 3 4, methodical persuasion/I know you’ve done this before, you’ve mastered the equation,” she sings, shoving off someone who’s got it all wrong. (And yes, “mastered the equation” sort of sounds like she’s singing the word “masturbation,” which only makes it better.)
Samantha plays it cool as she calls out the dude’s dirty deeds in a thoroughly listenable (and danceable!) way. I especially like this line:
The cheater never wins,
Even if he ends the game with the highest score.
And the liar never knows love,
You can’t earn that through force.
“1 2 3 4” is a super solid way to start this solo venture. Here’s hoping she’s got an EP or album on the way pretty soon, too! It’s #SomethingMoreUrban-i.
