Place can often influence art, often we hear people being inspired by the big cities all over the world, but so can small places as well. Positively or negatively. Indie artist Yot Club took inspiration from a location as well in his new song “Alive,” which will be featured on his upcoming EP Santolina. The EP is set to be released in January next year via Nice Guys Records.

Yot Club is the moniker of Ryan Kaiser. Earlier this year, the artist from Mississippi celebrated a huge milestone when his song “YKWIM” went viral thanks to multiple popular videos on TikTok featuring his song. Since then the song was played over 100 million times on Spotify alone. Santolina and the new song “Alive” are entirely inspired by suburbia, the good and the bad sides. The name of the EP is taken from a proposed suburban development in New Mexico, which promises the future residents a piece of desert paradise, yet to sustain this desert livestyle, rivers around the developments are often sucked dry.

“‘Alive’ is a song about living in the suburbs. The suburbs are a surreal place because no matter where you are in America it often feels like it’s the same street with all the same stores – like there’s a giant copy and paste button
somewhere pumping these places out,” Kaiser says. “I wanted the video to illustrate the suburbs through a positive lens however – highlighting the satisfying repetition and comforting predictability.”

The fun and uplifting pop-beat of “Alive” pairs well with the bright and colorful imagery of the video. Watching trading cards and comic books truly are comforting and take one back to the good old days when these things were fresh and exciting to us. Yot Club also serves absolute dad vibes when grilling burgers in white sneakers. The song also offers a high level of emotional comfort, especially due to the warm composition and well-written lyrics.

“Alive” is a perfect example of how the world works, it’s not all black and white, and there can be fun in boring and artificial suburbs.

Santolina Tracklisting

01. Alive
02. Channel 4
03. Deer Island
04. It’s Easy
05. Crescent City
06. Hole