You often truly see a person not in moments of intimacy, but in a moment of disappointment. Familiar words seem rehearsed, gestures look like part of a role, and the relationship – like a set. At first, it feels like a blow to the gut. Then – like anger. And then, if you are lucky, a strange, liberating clarity arrives: there is no longer any need to explain anything to yourself in retrospect.

It is precisely this point of no return – from blind infatuation through rage to clarity – that “WANNABE,” the new single by JORRE, released last Friday, August 28, captures. JORRE is the stage name of Jordon Bolden, an artist and director originally from Seattle, now living in New York. For those who follow his work in film, his return to music may seem like an unexpected turn, but in fact it is more of a return home. The years spent in filmmaking have served him well: his songs have a director’s eye – an ability to build a scene, bring an emotion to its climax, and not rush the resolution. And the new work is proof of that.

JORRE admits that “WANNABE” is the boldest thing he has released so far. At the center of the story is the moment when the masks come off and a fake union falls apart right before your eyes. The song’s drama is constructed with cinematic sequencing – pain gives way to anger, anger to cold, sobering clarity. It feels as though everything is happening in real time, and the situation is being lived through together with the protagonist rather than observed from the outside.

Everything sounds quite dense and energetic: the bass presses forward and bears down, the rhythm maintains a hard stride, and a hypnotic synth motif winds itself around everything like an intrusive thought that is difficult to get rid of. Dark and very alive, with a driving atmosphere – the song makes you want to listen to it at full volume when you need an outlet for accumulated irritation. JORRE’s vocals deserve special attention. They work as another instrument of attack — confident, slightly detached, with the same cold determination that appears when a person has already made up their mind. The voice sounds full and powerful, without losing its emotional density even in the most restrained passages.

It is worth taking into account the fact that JORRE reinterprets the alternative rock and pop sound of the late ’90s and early 2000s, which he grew up with, adding his own creative perspective as a queer artist. The result is a living dialogue with the past – recognizable, but contemporary.

For JORRE, “WANNABE” is only the warm-up. This year, he will release his debut EP together with a micro-drama series about suicide prevention – and then it will become clear what kind of story he has been building around this one song all along.

• Instagram