John DeNicola maps the uncertain trajectory of humanity’s future fate in his psychedelic space-pop single and animated video Float On Hope — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
The latest release from the award-winning, multi-platinum singer-songwriter’s 2021 album She Said, the beautifully bittersweet Float On Hope ponders climate change, environmental collapse, our current space race, and whether we can literally rise above the crises that threaten our survival — or be fated to crash into oblivion. Opening on a strummy, rootsy acoustic guitar that sounds like it’s beaming in from another planet, the track gracefully expands and evolves into a gently propulsive two-step enveloped in lush waves of keyboards, searing electric guitar licks and woozy swirls and squiggles. Imagine Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Alex G and The War On Drugs joining forces and you’re halfway there. And ready to be transported by DeNicola’s hazy, high-altitude vocals, posing a raft of existential questions contained in co-writer Jason Stutts’ poetic, philosophical and ultimately optimistic lyrics:
“Crayons melting in the sun
While our skin burns
And I wonder what we will breathe
And I wonder where we will go
Sand blowing where a garden was
Mother says goodbye
And I don’t want to leave at all
But tomorrow we’ll look down
To the sky
And float, I don’t want to stay
Float, I don’t want to go
Ziggy Stardust and light speed
was a teenage fantasy
But I wonder if there’s spiders on Mars
What once seemed so absurd
Thrusters on engines heat
Will history repeat
Do we ever listen at all?
Will this be our fall?
And we float, It’s a long way down
Float, we’ll make it somehow
Float On Hope.”
For the colorfully entertaining accompanying video, DeNicola has partnered with animator Jenna Shot to raise awareness for the climate crisis through the introduction of a new cartoon character hailing from the Amazon Rainforest: The Mouse from Manaus. The Mouse is a stand-in for every living being on Earth affected by the escalating perils of the climate crisis. The video follows the Mouse as it evacuates our no longer inhabitable home planet aboard a spaceship, destination unknown.
DeNicola, 67, is famous for writing a pair of massive ’80s hits: (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life and Hungry Eyes from the multi-platinum Dirty Dancing soundtrack. In his long and successful career, DeNicola has won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and ASCAP’s coveted Songwriter Of The Year award; been sampled by Erykah Badu; collaborated with Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads, members of The Raspberries, Moby Grape and Procol Harum; produced many young artists (including a fledgling Maroon 5); and, in the last few years, begun releasing his own music, including his sophomore LP She Said.
Despite his pedigree, DeNicola is very attuned to current sounds, always clamoring for new sources of inspiration and trading mixes with his 28-year-old musician son. What makes his work so compelling is the way he imbues depth and dimension to pop music — as Float On Hope illustrates perfectly.
Watch the animated video for Float On Hope above, check out She Said below, and find John DeNicola at his website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
