Dreamer Boy Unleashes New Single, “Suckerpunch”
Singer-songwriter Dreamer Boy (born Zach Taylor) weaves dreamy Americana with urgent alt hip-hop on his lovelorn new single, “Suckerpunch.” Listen HERE. He wrote the song with Aidan Spiro, Christian Taylor and Aaron Wing – members of his band, The Lone Stars – and Lecx Stacy. Spiro, Taylor, and Stacy produced. In the accompanying black and white visualizer, Dreamer Boy gives an emotional performance of “Suckerpunch” in the corral of a Valentine, Texas, ranch. View HERE.
“‘Suckerpunch’ is about repeatedly getting stomped on by yearning for love – that repeated action of reaching out and putting your heart on the line and then it getting stomped on – how that cycle wears down the psyche,” says Dreamer Boy. “Looking the other way for someone means ‘Hey, I know you’ve hurt me time and time again, but I’ll just look the other way one more time.’ Just the insanity of going back through that willingly. To follow up ‘Heartbreaker,’ I wanted to get deeper into the heartbreak emotion, and the pattern of that.”
The enigmatic figure that appeared on the cover of his previous single “Heartbreaker” begins to come into focus on “Suckerpunch” as Dreamer Boy sings, “I'm just like the shoe untied that you wear around / I paint the tears on my face and the mud on my lace like a rodeo clown.” With the Rodeo Clown, Dreamer Boy takes inspiration from David Bowie and Tyler, the Creator – artists who embody something bigger than themselves for sake of making the music feel bigger.
Dreamer Boy explains, “This song is the first time I reference the Rodeo Clown directly. As I was writing the second verse, it felt like it would be good to just include exactly why I am the Rodeo Clown. This song perfectly sums up where this character comes from – that beaten down, stomped on feeling. The song has a chanty, energetic feeling to it – it’s almost a little manic and chaotic.”
“Suckerpunch” is the first song Dreamer Boy wrote with The Lone Stars, that truly tapped into the spirit of how they wanted to record. He recalls, “It unlocked our production philosophy and began this process of trust with my new collaborators. It started out with all of us stomping around in the room. That was an important moment for the whole process – it brought everything back to just trying to capture performances and moments that felt very candid and natural and expressive.”
Upon its release last month, “Heartbreaker” was heralded by Rolling Stone as one of the “Songs You Need to Know” and earned a spot on the Ones To Watch “Now Watching” playlist. Listen to “Heartbreaker” HERE. View the visualizer HERE.
Blurred Culture observed, “‘Heartbreaker’ emerges as a high-energy ode to love’s tumultuous roller coaster, blending the grit and glamour of 70’s rock with a modern twist [that]feels distinctly Dreamer Boy. Melodic Mag said, “You know you are onto something when FINNEAS give you his seal of approval…[’Heartbreaker’] focuses on the high-speed thrill of falling both into and out of love.”
Hailed by Flaunt as “an artist to watch,” Dreamer Boy has spent the last few years touring the world with Clairo, Omar Apollo, The Marías , Still Woozy, and more, on the back of his sentimental, sweetly psychedelic debut album, Love, Nostalgia, and his heartfelt 2021 album All the Ways We Are Together.