With his freshest single, “Lights Out,” 21-year-old Dean Griffin is flicking the switch on a new chapter of groove-enshrined storytelling. Melding the lustful pull of 80s pop with the supple textures of R&B, the smoulder track is Griffin’s bold move into a more emotionally raw sound.
Dean self-produced the song, to which Joseph Guadiana gave a final coat of polish. “Lights Out” radiates style in its own lane. Its synth-driven rhythm has an incredible, magnetic frisson, a funk-tinged pulse that envelops the listener like velvet in the dark. It’s the song meant to come after midnight, the hour when emotions are raw, bodies are close, and everything is spoken without a word.
But the song's true power, intimacy, is beneath the glitzy production and throwback atmospherics. Dean sings with a weary confidence and emotional nakedness that lend her vocals a simmering tension rather than an explosive release. You sense the gravity of connection in each beat. This is about resonance.
‘Lights Out’ is a signal flare fire from an artist who seems to have found his vulnerability as his biggest strength. With this release, Griffin shows us he’s not afraid to turn down the lights and let the music communicate its soul in shadows.
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