There’s a moment early in Dorio’s new video for “New Energy” when everything clicks into place. The Texas duo has always thrived at the intersection of pop fantasy and restless experimentation, but this latest single distills their vision into something immediate: sleek, playful, and propelled by an unmistakable sense of motion.
“New Energy” arrives as the latest preview of Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel, Dorio’s upcoming LP built around an imagined world of international espionage, glamour, and obsession. The album opens and closes with the phrase “3…2…1…Go!” and “New Energy” embodies that mission statement from its opening moments, surging forward with sparkling synths, buoyant rhythms, and an infectious sense of possibility.
The track follows the release of “My Own Personal Racer,” another high-octane entry in the duo’s evolving universe. Together, the songs establish the cinematic scope of Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel, a record that draws from club pop, neo-acoustic textures, and millennium-era electronic music while remaining unmistakably Dorio.
What makes “New Energy” stand out is its balance of polish and spontaneity. Chad Doriocourt’s production is energetic without feeling overworked, layering fuzzed guitars, shimmering synthesizers, and crisp percussion into a soundscape that feels simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic. Rachel Rascoe’s vocals provide the perfect counterpoint, grounding the song with warmth and melody even as the music races ahead.
The accompanying video amplifies the song’s spirit of transformation and movement. Rather than relying on a literal narrative, it embraces mood and momentum, inviting viewers into the stylized world of Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel. The visuals feel kinetic and dreamlike, mirroring the song’s central promise: shedding the old and embracing something vibrant, mysterious, and alive.
As a preview of the forthcoming album, “New Energy” suggests that Dorio is operating with renewed confidence. The duo has built a reputation for blending genres and aesthetics in unexpected ways, and here they lean fully into their strengths, creating music that feels cinematic without sacrificing intimacy and ambitious without losing sight of fun.
If Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel is a globe-trotting spy fantasy, then “New Energy” is its ignition sequence; an exhilarating rush that invites listeners to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
“New Energy” carries a sense of immediacy and momentum. What was the first spark that set this track in motion creatively?
Rachel Rascoe: In late December, Chad texted me an instrumental track titled “New Orbit Demo.” I was feeling briefly disconnected from the album process and was probably scared I wouldn’t be able to re-enter. I’d spent the month submitting a bunch of grad school apps (classic late twenties) and working holiday retail.
After a few encouraging reminders from Chad, I sent him a voice memo with the exact lyrics that became the beginning of the song. I sound like a dying little mouse with a stuffy nose, but we started!
The project plays with dual identities and alter egos. At what point did those internal characters start guiding the songwriting rather than just framing it
Chad Doriocourt: Guides like a title, concept, costumes—even if they don’t end up that way—have always helped me get into an album. I’d been toying with this overarching spy thriller idea when I wrote a song called “Chasing Agent Friday," and Rachel, kind of magically, sent me a song with a similar bad guy character, “Perfect Angel.” I set up one of those early 2000s tiny flat-screen kitchen TVs next to my desk, playing movies on mute. I wanted the album title to be something dramatic and long like, “The Tale of Chasing Agent Friday & the Perfect Angel,” but we edited.
There’s a strong tension in your work between precision and chaos. How do you decide when a song feels “finished” within that push and pull?
Rachel: Even though the timeline always feels so uncertain in the moment, I think time and revisions make the songs feel finished. Searching my texts, I see that I sent Chad a voice note with the lyrics “so I can call you in the new year when you’re having fun” at 10 PM on January 1. I’d changed the file title to “New Energy" because I guess that’s what I was looking for. Earlier that day, I’d sent him pictures of shoes I tried on at Dick’s Sporting Goods. It needed the time.
Chad: I read somewhere that Madonna would always say "Don't gild the lily" while her, and William Orbit were writing and producing "Ray of Light." I wrote that on a sticky note by our mixing desk. It always kept me grounded to not overwork things in a song…when a song feels good, it is good!
Rachel: Later, when the tracks are actually close to being actually finished, I usually provide fresh ears for a couple rounds of edits on Chad’s production up until we collapse into whatever deadline was set.
The record moves between club-driven energy and more intimate, melodic moments. How do you keep those shifts feeling like part of one emotional world?
Rachel: A note Chad sent me with an early version of this track said, “A new club pop song about another agent of mystery, the agent of sadness. LMAO.” So, I think the club pop and emotional melodic moments are totally embedded for us, peanut butter and jelly, because they’re woven into so much music that we love. He’d also sent me a screenshot of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” with NEW ENERGY written over it in one of those strange iPhone crayon fonts. I guess that meant he liked the title.
A lot of the album deals with internal cycles, repetition, and obsessive thought patterns. How did you translate something so internal into something rhythmically and sonically dynamic?
Chad: I saw a psychiatrist last year (shout out Sarah) and she diagnosed me with OCD. It was life-changing to finally be able to put a label on what was going on in my head. There isn’t really a cure for OCD, or at least I don’t know of one, but it made my mind make so much more sense. I was able to accept myself more, I think.
A “good” side of OCD, for me, is obsessing over fun things…. I love listening to club and pop music with such repetitive earworm samples that Rachel finds it annoying sometimes. I don’t get tired of it. It soothes me. So I love sneaking in repetitive earworms when writing our music; it’s comfortable for me.
You’ve spoken about collaboration as a kind of dialogue between melody and production. When you disagree creatively, what usually wins out—and why?
Rachel: I was having one of those “say anything out of boredom" type coworker conversations about topics of arguments with our significant others. I said, “Chad and I argue about what the songs should be called,” and my coworker said, “Are you being serious?” It genuinely is usually some sort of grumpy but necessary (and quickly forgotten) compromise.
Like, I’ll rudely suggest that some entire section that Chad spent days creating needs to be cut completely upon first hearing it. Chad naturally disagrees, and something about that part ultimately just needs to be tweaked a little bit.
The writing feels very character-driven but still deeply personal. How much of the narrative is observation versus lived experience?
Chad: Lived experience and observation are probably equally important to our writing, one in the same. I think this is our most personal album, lyrically, and the characters and world-building were tools to unlock that. And it’s just fun!
For each album, I watch a ton of movies and research musicians or groups that I fall in love with. (Shout out to We Luv Video and Austin Public Library here in Austin for providing us with basically any DVD.) I’ll obsess over them and go down way too many rabbit holes that usually land me on Discogs late at night buying some old head’s CD collection. This one dude I bought from said he used to DJ at the rooftop bar at the World Trade Center in the 90s.
This project feels very immersive in its own logic and atmosphere. What do you hope listeners take away after they step out of it and back into their own world?
Rachel: After wrapping up the album, I read a description of Emperor Norton Records that said the label released music “suited to both listening and club environments.” I think we’d really like our music to be interesting enough for a deep listen but also atmospheric enough to accompany whatever you’re going about out in the world.
Recently, strangely, people sent us videos of our music playing in a Chili’s and an Anthropologie, both out of state. I’m not really sure if that’s the ideal environment or if we’re being compensated, but it’s nice to see the songs adapt while holding their own.
Dorio 2026 Summer Tour – North American Dates
7/13 Denton, TX Rubber Gloves
7/14 Tulsa, OK Thelma's Peach
7/15 Kansas City, MO The Farewell
7/16 St. Louis, MO The Sinkhole
7/17 Milwaukee, WI Bremen Cafe
7/18 Minneapolis, MN Zhora Darling
7/19 Chicago, IL Cole's Bar
7/20 Windsor, ON, CA Meteor
7/21 Toronto, ON, CA Dina’s Tavern
7/23 Providence, RI AS220
7/24 Boston, MA O'Brien's Pub
7/26 NYC, NY Night Club 101
7/28 Indianapolis, IN State Street Pub
7/29 Nashville DRKMTTR
7/30 Birmingham, AL Saturn
7/31 Athens, GA Flicker Theatre
8/1 Atlanta, GA TBA
8/2 New Orleans, LA TBA
