Stream: Dijon, ‘The Stranger’

Haley Bosselman on December 28th, 2020

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What could a rap-inspired folk song possibly sound like? Give Dijon’s newest track, “The Stranger,” a listen to find out.

“I always wanted to make a duet and couldn’t,” says the artist, Dijon Duenas. “This strange idea of creating a bizarre posse song, similar to ‘Scenario’ by A Tribe Called Quest or something, but with guitars.”

Cinematic but light-hearted, “The Stranger” features Sachi DiSerafino (“The Wildcard”), Dan Reeder (“The Old Man”), Tobias Jesso Jr. (“The Giant”), John C. Reilly (“The Wayward King”) and Thea Gustaffson (“Becky & The Birds”). For those of us nostalgic for drunken, impromptu sing-alongs, this one tugs at the heartstrings.

“Different voices on the same guitar loop was intriguing, and I asked people I knew if they wanted to try it,” Dijon explains. “Eventually [producers] Jack, Henry and I randomly threw names in a hat of who would seem really strange and fun on it; mostly people we’d never heard on a song or on an album together.”

“The Stranger” has a bit more pep than Duenas’ other, often trippy R&B tracks. It’s his third major release of the year, following his cover of Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing” and EP “How Do You Feel About Getting Married?” But like “The Stranger,” the EP was a communal effort.

“Many friends came around to help with things and they shaped the record,” Dijon says. “Romance is all over these little stories, and so is disappointment and so is desperation.”

||| Stream: “The Stranger”