South African artist Nakhane has released a new song titled “Do You Well” that features indie pop artist Perfume Genius. The song is accompanied by a charged music video showing scenes of a couple that goes from sultry embraces to wrestling in between shots of Nakhane singing the song and dancing. The song was produced with Emre Türkmen and Nile Rodgers and the video was directed by Jordan Rossi. “Do You Well” is a pop song with a four-on-the-floor beat that lends to a disco-like feel behind a heavy bass.
Pitchfork details statements on the song from Nakhane who said “I wanted to explore the intersection of violence and sensuality, the dance of courting someone before you actually have sex with them. It was inspired by a lot of gay-themed films, where we normally see characters wrestling with their inner dialogue before they give in to their desires. So I said, why not make that wrestling literal? Of course the inspiration for that was how homoerotic wrestling is.” When asked about Perfume Genius’s feature, Nakhane stated “I always thought singing with him would be a beautiful thing. I liked that it’s a song that was not necessarily what people would expect from us: a sad, trauma-mining ballad. Instead, I wanted us to make a banger.”
Nakhane has also had successful acting career, appearing in the South African film “The Wound” that was featured at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. This newest release from Nakhane follows the other single they released in July 2020 titled “Tell Me Your Politik.” Perfume Genius was also featured on another track done with Alice Boman called “Feels Like A Dream.”
(Photo Credit: Owen Ela)
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