Perto and Banoffee are a match made in heaven: both Australian-born, bleach-haired pop weirdos, they’ve each spent the past few years carving out their own niches in the disorientating, boundary-pushing world of hyperpop. Banoffee’s debut album Look At Us Now Dad, released earlier this year, was the satisfying culmination of seven-odd years of EP releases and hard-touring, a bracing and beautiful statement of artistic self-possession and vision. Perto’s past few years, on the other hand, have seen the ascendant Sydney-born producer remix Dylan and Whethan, collaborate with Lil Raven and Mixed Matches, and release “Bad Maybe Good,” a superlative collaboration with Kah-Lo.
Today, The FADER is premiering “I Miss You,” a warm, wistful new song that unites the two. Written between Melbourne’s Covid-19 lockdowns, “I Miss You” speaks to the disconnection one feels when watching a friend in strife. Perto’s warped synthwork underscoring Banoffee’s yearning vocal, it’s a lullaby written in the throes of alienation that pleads for connection.
“Throughout quarantine there was an easing of restrictions in my area. I took that time to book out my favorite studio in Melbourne for a week and work with a bunch of my favorite artists before it was too late and I was stuck at home again,” Perto says of the song. “Martha came through towards the end of the week and “I Miss You” was the first thing I played to her in terms of song ideas. She instantly stuck to it and within a few hours the whole song was finished.”
“This song came easy in only a couple of hours which is always a sign of a good creative relationship,” Banoffee adds. “What I hope people take from this song is some catharsis. Everybody goes through struggle, this song hopes to show that people are there trying to reach in to that darkness that can sometimes feel impenetrable. ‘I Miss You’ is about losing someone when they’re standing right in front of you, I think a lot of people know that feeling or have been that person.”
Listen to “I Miss You” above.
