My sins are all forgiven.
I might be desperate, but I won’t let you forget.
I know you will give in to me.
I am dead set. I am dead set.
She 1 • Him 2 have built their latest single Obsessed around one of pop music’s most reliable bad ideas: somebody confusing romantic destiny with a complete inability to take no for an answer.
The Cleveland duo of Evan Nave and Cassie Bishop bring years of Lestat and Shy Moon behind them, though Obsessed feels leaner and brighter than that résumé might suggest. The synths skip forward in sharp little patterns, Bishop keeps her vocal airy and cool, and underneath it all sits an electroclash streak that brings to mind the clipped attitude and wiry pop economy of Elastica fed through a rack of 80s electronics.
There is plenty of Human League, Yazoo, Soft Cell, and Ladytron in the bloodstream, but the guitars give the track an extra shove. Producer Michael Seifert threads in parts with a distinctly Fixx-like character, adding just enough bite to keep the arrangement from becoming too polished for its own good.
“This song has been amazing to put together,” says Nave. “An 80s vibe with a very modern spin. And our producer, Michael Seifert, dropped some very Fixx-like guitars on it. Love the dark lyrical tone versus the upbeat music dichotomy.”
That contrast is where Obsessed starts getting funny in a slightly alarming way. The music suggests somebody having a marvelous time under bright club lights; the lyrics suggest that somebody has already memorized your commute. Bishop drew inspiration from the horror film Obsession and its character Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette.
“I wrote the lyrics to this song based off the movie Obsession, which I loved and thought was a unique and fun idea for a horror movie,” says Bishop. “I wanted to capture some of the elements and mood of the film in this piece.”
She certainly found the right emotional neighborhood. The character at the center of the song barrels through pleading, certainty, possession, and total romantic entitlement while treating every objection as a temporary inconvenience. Love becomes less a mutual arrangement than a hostile takeover conducted in excellent makeup.
Bishop wisely keeps her delivery light. She never overplays the menace, and that restraint makes the character more convincing. The voice remains smooth, composed, almost sweet, even as the lyrics tighten their grip. It gives Obsessed the unnerving quality of someone smiling pleasantly while explaining why the two of you are obviously meant to spend eternity together.
The electroclash edge helps, too. Those angular guitars and bright electronics give the song a brisk, fashionable nastiness, somewhere between synthpop precision and the kind of deadpan cool Elastica once made look effortless.
Obsessed is catchy enough to dance to and unhinged enough to make you reconsider sharing your location.
Romance, apparently, remains a dangerous hobby.
The charming video channels that same bubbly sycophancy inside the studio, where eager autograph and selfie seekers chase the performers around, hoping for — and eventually fighting over — a moment with their idols. There is something wonderfully silly about the escalation, and visually it brings to mind Toni Basil’s Mickey, with its bright, performative enthusiasm and choreographed fan frenzy. The joke fits the song neatly: admiration is only one bad decision away from fixation.
Watch the video for Obsessed below:
Listen to Obsessed below and order the single here.
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The post “I Know You Will Give In to Me” — She 1 • Him 2 Share Video for Unsettling Synthpop Single “Obsessed” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.
