Garza, the solo musical project of the electronic music duo Thievery Corporation’s Rob Garza, has released a new single titled “Something That’s Different” with Blackbook. The song features alternative pop musician Emeline and a collaboration with Mercury Soul’s Green Gables video series, a project that aims to pair classical music with modern popular and electronic artists and talents.

“Something That’s Different” features a classical quartet tied with the electronic talents Garza is known for. Combined with the sweet-sounding vocals of Emeline, the single employs a new classical electronic style so far unseen from the musicians.

About the track, Garza explained, “With this project, I wanted to explore more pop sensibilities and influences that I had when I was starting to make music, specifically things back from the ’80s and my fascination with new wave music. This project is specifically about opening up myself more to different collaborations and working with different singers.

“Our first day in the studio, we came up with two songs, one of which is ‘Something That’s Different.’ I think when we wrote the line ‘I can’t keep hoping that someday you’ll want something you left behind,’ it was something that both of us could relate to and I think that’s something that can be very personal and at the same time very universal.  Thematically, the song insinuates a sort of rebirth and moving on.”

The song is a soothing piece that utilizes Emeline’s gentle head voice sound to reflect both the sadness and hope involved with personal growth and moving forward, specifically from a specific person. The lyrics talk about the internal battle between desire and self-preservation. The presence of the string quartet, consisting of Matthew Vincent, Annamarie Arai, Ivo Bokulic and Byron Hogan, adds a sorrow to the song’s sound, while Garza’s electronics provide the contrasting drive and optimism.

The music video was filmed at San Francisco’s historic Green Gables Estate. It primarily focuses on Emeline dancing and laying amongst the flowers as she sings, the footage occasionally cut with a flashback of what is assumed to be the younger version of herself, also wandering the garden. Garza and the quartet members are scattered across the stone steps of the estate behind Emeline. The video ends with the singer leaving the garden, dropping a bouquet of flowers as she exits.

Following Rob Garza’s 2019 debut EP Where The Moon Hides, the artist has been preparing the release of an upcoming soon-to-be-announced solo studio album where this new single will appear. He has spent much of the last two years working on his label Magnetic Moon, in addition to the release of the single “Summer Is Ours” last month.

Thievery Corporation released their most recent album, titled Symphonik, in April of 2020. The record features singles such as “Sweet Tides,” “Love Has No Heart” and “Lebanese Blonde.”