Get Lost In Kenzie May’s “Hide & Seek”: Hear The Hypnotic Track

Forgive me for gushing when it comes to Kenzie May, but somebody needs to: The 19-year-old singer-songwriter, born in Boston but raised in London, is known primarily for providing guest vocals on a few other songs (most notably dubstep producer Sub Focus‘ single “Falling Down”) and not a whole lot else — as of yet, at least.

That’s a shame, because her first solo single, “Hide & Seek,” is pretty remarkable: It takes a minute or two to get moving as its skittering beat and sneaky strings begin to build in density — but when the chorus comes out of nowhere, fierce and layered, a million pounding claps and twinkling lights under a vocal that’s collapsing in on itself, it’s an instantaneous jolt of cold brilliance, and I found myself replaying it over and over again. 

Lyrically, “Hide & Seek” is simple but high-concept; vocally, she’s somewhere between AlunaGeorge and Ellie Goulding (haunting and chill-inducing); sonically, it’s just hypnotic, a glittering pop marathon. When the track drops out on the penultimate chorus to reveal just gang vocals and claps, you can’t not move.

Call it what it is: The arrival of a major talent. Listen below.

[via Pigeons & Planes]