Premiere: Adult Bodies, ‘Consumed by You’

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Adult Bodies (Photo by Brandon Hardy)
Adult Bodies (Photo by Brandon Hardy)

The debut single from Adult Bodies is about finding hope amid seemingly all-encompassing despair, like rays of sunlight that finally intrude on the murk of an overcast morning. It’s also a reminder that the path to transcendence starts within.

“Consumed by You” is the work of Steven Wilkin, the choir boy-turned-indie-rocker-turned-electronic musician who once fronted the bands Sun Drug and Vanaprasta. As Adult Bodies, his vocals soar from a soundscape of shimmering synths and minimalist beats, recalling the cinematic alt-pop of artists such SOHN, Rhye and James Blake.

The song emerged as Wilkin licked his wounds from a failed relationship. “As loneliness set in, I began to hide my emotional state in the darkness of the Los Angeles speakeasy scene,” the songwriter says. “There I would forget about the day and slip into the distraction of burying my pain in a room full of strangers.”

“I’m falling down deeper / I get buried without sleeping,” he sings at the outset, his woe-is-me at full throttle. As the song progresses, though, there comes the realization that “I know I played a part / I know I played a part in this.” He explains that it’s all abut “turning away from blaming it on being the victim and taking ownership” — even if it feels like, as he repeats in the chorus, “I can’t stop starting.” It makes for a powerful meditation for an artist turning the page.

“Consumed by You” is out Sept. 21.

||| Stream: “Consumed by You”