Emily Reo’s “Ghosting” is purgatorial euphoria

Emily Reo's new single, premiering today on The FADER, is about being so deep in a type of living purgatory and wanting to break free, but can't. It's aptly called "Ghosting," from the probing popmaker's upcoming record, Only You Can See It, out 4/12 via Carpark; the song's full of bright, colorful blinking machinations, like standing at an old-school pinball machine and watching it light up in front of you — an entrancing and wonderful sensation.

Reo's penchant for cleverly bending organic sound into something more digital is liberally on display, most noticeable through a warble she places on her vocals, effectively making it sound like she's singing underwater. "From a hollow tree, I've been spirit hosting," goes one catchy verse made almost imperceptible by the bubbling; twenty listens later, the more I feel like "Ghosting"'s gleaming outfit exists perfectly with the more serious lyrics. It's mania living inside your mind so long. Reo's taken to coloring it in.

"'Ghosting' was written during a time when I felt completely incapacitated by my own mind," Reo writes via email. "My struggles with mental illness had reached an all time high, which resulted in me being too afraid to do anything. I more or less trapped myself inside the fabricated safety of my bedroom and stopped living my life. To me, 'Ghosting' represents the purgatorial space between being alive and living. If you're not deriving pleasure from anything, participating in experiences or able to break out of the cycle of going through the motions it can feel like there's a disconnection between your mind and body. 'Ghosting' explores what beyond a beating heart is necessary for living."