Fun tunes

ELECTRONIC music producer Porter Robinson’s third studio album Smile! :D is set to release on July 16.

Porter revealed that the album was originally meant to have ‘no sincerity, all fun’, opposing his second project Nurture, released in 2021, which featured themes of depression that reflected the artist’s struggles with mental illness at the time. However, the creative eventually found himself writing about his emotions for this forthcoming project as well, resulting in an experience that is expected to be fun yet vulnerable.

“Even on those arrogant tracks, it’s honest, because it speaks to how I wish I could be,” he explained in an interview.

The 31-year-old American DJ rose to fame at the age of 18 thanks to single releases Say My Name and Spitfire. He is also a credited co-writer for Zedd’s 2012 smash hit Clarity and provided backing vocals. According to Porter, the song was originally going to be released as a collaboration between the two artists, but the producer backed down for his disinterest in doing something that was ‘shooting for the radio’, at the time.

Porter’s recent work includes featuring on the track Still Here (With the Ones That I Came With) off of Skrillex’s Grammy-nominated album Quest for Fire.