Kyle Gordon has jumped back into the late 90s for his latest single “If You Break Up With Me”, taking aim at the era of alternative rock songs that somehow paired seriously dark lyrics with massive, radio friendly hooks.
The track arrives through Gordon’s fictional band 10 Year Plan and is the third single from his upcoming album Kyle Gordon Is Everywhere, which lands October 2nd via BMG. It follows “Mr. Jambo” and “I’m a Whore” as Gordon continues bouncing between different eras and genres through a growing collection of musical alter egos.
For “If You Break Up With Me”, Gordon says the idea came from the contrast found across plenty of late 90s alternative rock, where upbeat production could hide some surprisingly bleak subject matter.
“This song taps into all the amazing radio friendly pop oriented alt rock of my early youth,” Gordon explains. “The crux of the parody rests on the contrast between the bright, shiny, catchy production of much of this music, but paired with 90’s rock dude dark lyrics.”
He points towards Third Eye Blind’s “Semi Charmed Life” as one of the clearest examples, with the famously upbeat track centred around much darker subject matter than its melody might initially suggest.
The accompanying video takes the joke even further, recreating the look of a late 90s MTV rock video alongside Gordon’s increasingly questionable 10 Year Plan frontman.
Kyle Gordon Is Everywhere continues Gordon’s approach of building fully realised songs around different musical eras and genres, with the album also featuring interludes narrated by Daniel Radcliffe.
Tour Dates
October 1st — Saint Paul, MN — Turf Club
October 2nd — Milwaukee, WI — Falcon Bowl
October 3rd — Chicago, IL — Subterranean
October 4th — Columbus, OH — Skully’s Music Diner
October 6th — Charlotte, NC — Neighborhood Theatre Tap Room
October 8th — Atlanta, GA — Vinyl
October 9th — Orlando, FL — Conduit
October 10th — West Palm Beach, FL — Respectable Street
October 11th — Tampa, FL — New World
October 16th — Dallas, TX — Texas Tea Room
October 17th — Austin, TX — 29th Street Ballroom
October 20th — Denver, CO — Larimer Lounge
October 22nd — Phoenix, AZ — Rebel
October 23rd — San Diego, CA — Voodoo Room
October 24th — Los Angeles, CA — The Roxy
October 25th — San Francisco, CA — Rickshaw Stop
October 28th — Portland, OR — Mission Theatre
October 29th — Seattle, WA — Barboza
October 30th — Vancouver, BC — Biltmore Cabaret
November 4th — Kansas City, MO — Recordbar
December 2nd — Hamden, CT — Space Ballroom
December 3rd — Cambridge, MA — The Sinclair
December 4th — New York, NY — Racket NYC
December 5th — Washington, DC — Union Stage
December 10th — Warrendale, PA — Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
December 11th — Ann Arbor, MI — Blind Pig