The Civil Twilight’s lead singer Steven Dayvid McKellar, has his first solo album coming out later this year. Today we’re premiering a new song from that album, a melancholy electronic pop track called “Don’t Ask Me Why.” From the blipping electronic beat to McKellar’s subdued vocal delivery, it’s a promising preview for the new album, which is called ETHIO.

From its structure to the rich instrumentation, “Don’t Ask Me Why” recalls Amnesiac/Kid A era Radiohead. The track is accompanied by a music video, which features various shots including silhouettes, saturated clips of random everyday objects and other images that complement the experimental pop track.

The eight songs on ETHIO were initially outlined by McKellar in his studio using post-it notes to make sense of the myriad characters and draw connections between them and the “uniquely American” places described in the lyrics. In many ways the album was inspired by the South African native returning to America in 2019 after a year and a half of living in Paris. He and his wife returned to their home in Nashville, TN and “I saw a neighborhood — eight individuals, young and old, from all walks of life, seemingly unrelated yet tied together by a mutual frustration, alienation, disappointment, dashed expectations and broken promises,” said McKellar. “And I was right there among them.”

ETHIO track list

1. “Don’t Ask Me Why”
2. “Keep It Safe”
3. “Modern Boy”
4. “Call It What You Like”
5. “The Promise”
6. “Kids Play”
7. “Asleep At The Wheel”
8. “Even A Bird”