Stream: Winnetka Bowling League & Sasha Sloan, ‘Barcelona’

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Matthew Koma of Winnetka Bowling League and Sasha Sloan (Photo by David O'Donohue)

Over three EPs — one a year since 2018 — singer-songwriter-producer Matthew Koma has been striking gold with his project Winnetka Bowling League. As indie- and power-pop songs go, they don’t come any stickier, and they’re smarter than most (not to mention infused with a sense of humor).

When it came to making a breakup song, though, Koma turned to pop singer Sasha Sloan for an assist. The result is “Barcelona,” out this week, which teases WBL’s forthcoming fourth EP.

It’s surprisingly buoyant for a breakup song, and Koma explains why: “‘Barcelona’ is a song about still being able to have love for the person that it didn’t work out with. I always feel the urge to discredit every ounce of a relationship after it’s over because it feels way better than scrolling the highlight feed … but sometimes there was a lot of good worth recognizing, and the ending doesn’t have to be this big dramatic ‘delete all.’ I had a super-rough voice note of the chorus on it, and I sent it to Sasha. She told me to finish it, and when I did, she was sweet enough to lend her voice to it.”

||| Stream: “Barcelona”

||| Previously: “Congratulations” EP, “CVS,” “Kombucha,” “Feeling California” playlist/ debut EP, “On the 5”