mixtape maestro (2.0)

First attracting our eardrums with his fetchingly overdramatic “Hurtful”, Swedish up-and-comer Erik Hassle continues to convince us that he’s one of this year’s best new pop catches with his new single “Don’t Bring Flowers”, a nicely blended mix of Maroon 5 and Killers influences that’s trendily built around vampiric-ish themes.

Here, backed by a snappy bassline jig, Hassle details the exasperation of being enamoured over a significant other whose hold over him is so strong it’s got him “diggin’ in the dirt/…So deep into this shit I can taste the earth” and dying “in a million ways” each day. Those lyrics not melodramatic enough for you? Then check for the hook and bridge, where Erik stretches the grave-digging metaphor to even more alarming heights, emo-snarling “Don’t bring flowers after I’m dead” and “Don’t stand there crying as you’re watching” as the arrangement detours into a synth-lined, new wave-y shimmer.

Catch the video below (the official single drops in the UK on August 23rd), then pick up the remix, where he teams up with fellow hot newbie MPHO (“Box N Locks”), afterward.

DL: “Don’t Bring Flowers (MPHO Remix)” (alt)