Known for feel-good hits like This Head I Hold, Dear To Me, and Oh Devil, Electric Guest has built a loyal fanbase for incredibly catchy, genre-blending indie pop since the 2010s. An incredibly dynamic live band, they have toured extensively across the United States, Europe, Australia, Mexico, and beyond.
Electric Guest – the beloved indie pop band formed by songwriter/producer Asa Taccone and lauded film and TV composer Matthew Compton – has released “Play Your Guitar,” a breezy and instantly catchy song of the summer contender and the group’s first release in nearly six years via Independent CO. Building from a driving, four on the floor drum machine and softly strummed acoustic guitar riff, the song gently transforms into a sweeping earworm. The lyrics in each verse ruminate on the anxiety of possible futures, both for oneself and for broader society (“fortune teller, politician, operator on the phone,” “synthesize it, multiply it, advertise it over”) before settling into a chorus that affirms the timeless, clarifying truth that can stem from simply playing a guitar.
The single is joined by an intimate iPhone-style music video that features cameos from Electric Guest’s extensive family of friends and collaborators, including HAIM, SNACKTIME, Portugal. The Man, Jordana and more!
Of the new song, Taccone says “We were on tour in Austin, Texas some years ago and I saw my guitar player was having what looked like a serious talk, pacing on his phone. A few minutes later he told me that his wife was leaving him. We were going on stage in an hour. Towards the end of the set he plays a lengthy solo and that night I was offstage, watching from the wings while taking a water break. His guitar solo made me cry. He really played with all of himself. In this ever changing world where up is often down and it’s hard to make sense of any given day I still believe in music. This song was for him.”
Asa Taccone, Electric Guest’s vocalist and lead songwriter, is a GRAMMY-nominated pop hitmaker whose uncanny writing and production abilities extend into theater, film and television as well as recorded music. Aside from his work with Electric Guest, Taccone co-wrote and co-produced the Billboard No. 1 hit “Feel It Still,” which earned Portugal. The Man a 2018 Grammy Award for “Best Pop Duo / Group Performance.” He has also written and/or produced songs for Carly Rae Jepson, H.E.R., Charlotte Gainsbourg, Amine, Phantogram, Foster the People and Badshah among others. More recently, he collaborated with The Weeknd to co-write and produced Lily Rose Depp’s “World Class Sinner / I’m A Freak,” the cult hit single from HBO’s The Idol that GQ declared 2024’s Song Of The Summer, as well as Charli XCX’s viral “Here I Go” digital short for SNL.
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