Kevin Bronson on April 2nd, 2019

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Bedroom popster Cuco today unveiled his first major-label release, the woozy and forlorn single “Hydrocone.” It’s the latest step for the 20-year-old Chicano sensation, who has risen from DIY roots in Hawthorne to signing a reported seven-figure record deal last month with Interscope.

Cuco’s journey has not come without speed bumps, though. Last October, the singer-songwriter (born Omar Banos) and his entourage suffered injuries while they were on tour when a big rig slammed into their van near Nashville. The new song, Cuco explains, was finished as he recovered from injuries sustained in the crash.

“I’m super excited to be back releasing my own music with this single ‘Hydrocodone,’ the first one from my debut album,” he says. “Ecstatic to put this song out after two years of working on it, having finished it on my Apple headphones in the hotel room, off Hydrocodone post-surgery recovering from our accident.”

The song and the circumstances surrounding its completion only heighten the songwriter’s characteristic themes of loneliness and isolation.

The release follows the Cuco-Dillon Francis collaboration “Fix Me” that was released in February. No news yet on when the album will be released, but Cuco has announced a 23-date tour in June and July that winds up with SoCal shows at the Fox Theater Pomona and the Novo.

||| Stream: “Hydrocodone”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Fix Me”

||| Live: Cuco plays the Fox Theater Pomona on July 26. Tickets on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. Cuco also headlines the Novo on July 27. Tickets on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.