Storm clouds hang heavy in mehro’s soul-stirring new song “dopamine,” a musical high born from a spiritual low: The LA-based indie artist shines a warm light in the cold dark with a beautiful, breathtakingly vulnerable manifestation of his own inner turmoil and unrelenting despair.
follow our Today’s Song(s) playlist
Stream: “dopamine” – mehro
When did all these hilly streets get so flat?
Most storms, they come and go rather quickly. The clouds roll in, the rain falls, the lightning strikes, and the thunder claps… and within a day or so, the clouds start to roll out and the light shines down on us once again. It’s here and gone, and we can move on with our lives.
But sometimes those clouds stick around; darkness engulfs us, blotting out the sun and smothering our senses. It’s more than a phase, a fog, or a daze; and we don’t know how, when, or if we’ll ever see clear skies again. In those moments, we’re utterly and entirely consumed: Numb, deflated, lost, and blue.
And no, we’re not talking about the weather anymore.
It’s from this place of infinite ache and despair that mehro wrote his latest song. A warm light shining sweetly in the cold dark, “dopamine” is a musical high born from a spiritual low: A beautiful, breathtakingly vulnerable manifestation of the artist’s unrelenting inner turmoil. It’s a soothing, soul-stirring soundtrack to depression; a raw, radiant, and resonant reeling from within.
And while it hurts to dwell in these feelings, it’s so important that we talk about them, sing about them, and remind ourselves that we’re not alone.
i’m in a wrestling
match with myself again
wonder who’s gonna win
sumo on the one side
pluto on the drum line
maybe they’ll be friends
who knows what they say
who knows when the feelings change
miranda’s on the porch swing
kyle’s gotta diamond ring
made out of mouse hair
the older kids doing dr*gs
getting out and getting f*ed
wonder how it really feels
who knows what they say
who knows when their feelings change
Released October 13, 2023 via Heroine Music Group, “dopamine” puts the “meh” in “mehro” (and we mean that in the most loving way possible). The Los Angeles-based indie artist’s first single since March’s acclaimed sophomore album Dark Corners and Alchemy is a cathartic and candid confessional of the highest order: mehro spills the contents of his aching soul out into the open for all to see, hear, and feel. Whereas dopamine the neurotransmitter often comes with a rush of pleasure, “dopamine” the song is a rush of pain.
“I finally understand the cliché of being terrified of one’s own voice,” mehro tells Atwood Magazine. “I wanted to make a song from the depths of despair, just on the other side of the invisible line. So hurt that the only way to survive is to step outside of any perspective. The sound singed and scorched any remnants of my artistic past; ‘dopamine’ is what emerges from the ashes.”
With his heart on his sleeve and his soul exposed, mehro pours all his angst and unrest out in an emotionally charged and churning chorus. His voice shakes, his delivery in line with the vulnerability of his words. The usually smooth singer – whose songs often have an air of mystery and seduction – holds nothing back as he unravels his innermost emotions without any slick production or instrumentation to hide behind:
i’m running low
on dopamine
diving on the slope
flying at blazing speeds
passin’ all the maple trees
glass in the honey bees
frozen in time
“dopamine” presents mehro in his rawest state: Stripped down to his bare bones, sharing some of the most brutal parts of his humanity.
He holds little back as he peels back the layers of despair. It is, in part, a valiant attempt to understand where these feelings come from, but what truly resonates the most here is the mere fact that mehro is shining a light on them at all. His vivid poetry is honest, and with that honesty comes a deep sense of human connection. The barriers between artist and audience have never felt so thin.
what are you so mad about
why do you scream and shout
who didn’t love you when
you need it the most now
you’re a tortured mut growl
poison generations
below and after
all those who’ve hurt are gone
By singing aloud the things we can barely admit to ourselves, mehro is actively destigmatizing depression and anxiety.
“I feel ‘dopamine’ is a song unlike any other I have written before,” he shares. “It makes me remember times that I am not sure I ever had. Interesting how memories stay with us, and how they linger in our minds. I wonder how different the reality of the experiences really were from the memories they casted. I was too busy enjoying or hating the experience to film it.”
“dopamine” arrived in mid-October alongside a bright, colorful, and dramatically evocative music video. Directed by mehro with cinematography by Ryan Calavano, the visual accompaniment evokes the sensation of feeling all alone in a crowded room – or rather, aimless and numb in what is for most a happy space. We watch mehro listlessly wandering through an amusement park, ostensibly from the perspective of a selfie stick-type camera pointed up from below. He’s not quite alone – he occasionally passes by other people, and if you pause the video at certain points you can make out crowds and bodies in the background – but he feels alone, and it’s that feeling of loneliness and isolation that creeps over us as “dopamine” runs over, under, and and through us. The situation is all too apropos for the sentiments of the song, enhancing a track that already hits hard with an intense, intimate, and overwhelming weight.
i’m running low
on dopamine
i’m starting to coast
lower down gradually
where am i going
when did all these hilly streets
get so flat
And yet, that unabating weight proves this song’s secret sauce: It’s the core; the beating heart; the true beauty of “dopamine.” Vulnerable and visceral, mehro’s new single dwells in life’s lows in order to unlock a special kind of high.
i’m running low
on dopamine
life’s made of stone
is this how it’s supposed to be
is this how it’s gonna be
is this how i’m gonna be
until the end?
who knows… who knows…
— —
:: stream/purchase dopamine here ::
:: connect with mehro here ::
Stream: “dopamine” – mehro
— — — —
Connect to mehro on
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© Russell Tandy
© Russell Tandy
:: Today’s Song(s) ::
follow our daily playlist on Spotify
:: Stream mehro ::
