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Photo: Esther Kim

d4vd has unexpectedly yet unsurprisingly become one of today's most coveted rockstars, and we’re just grateful to witness the ride. Furthering his indie rock legacy, Withering is a 2-track EP that strays from the ballads and returns d4vd to his rambunctious pop-rock roots.

Though he’s certainly been producing his fair share of music out on the road while building out his next full-length project, these tracks are only a few weeks old and feel rightfully fresh. He’s fertile with musicality, as only more life and experience happen to him, deepening the inspiration to pull from.

“Leave Her” is a dark indie ride, which has become d4vd's specialty. He only continues to perfect the ability to encapsulate longing, and “Leave Her” is the perfect kiss goodbye to longer nights and the chill of sleeping alone. In his own words, the track is “based on a friend's relationship and how I saw it turn out. It touches on the imbalance of love in their relationship and how he loved her way more than she loved him, resulting in him ultimately leaving her. I'm excited to be sharing this song with the world because I feel like a lot of people are experiencing this in their relationships just because of how over-glamorized relationships are made out to be nowadays, and how people think everything has to be perfect for it to work out.”

“2016” feels more reminiscent of 2000s punk—irritable and loudly youthful. Sometimes, we don’t take a moment to celebrate that we’re not who we used to be anymore, nor mourn the fleeting of our youth. Every iteration deserves applause, even the ones that feel like a regression. No longer blindly young, d4vd sets the kid in him free by honoring the bliss that accompanies being young and dumb. He’s got fewer bruises on his knees, but possibly some fewer trees climbed, though overthinking on an international flight on your way to a sold-out show is a welcomed upgrade.

From recording in closets to electrifying stages globally, d4vd has been our one to watch since the very beginning and seems to only have more and more eyes locked on it by the minute. Withering is his first release of 2024, though it’s accompanied by the silent promise of more to come.

Listen to Withering below: