AYOKAY’S DIGITAL DREAMSCAPE OUT NOW
NEW SINGLE “AMNESIA” (WITH NIGHTLY) PREMIERS TODAY
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH EMMIT FENN KICKS OFF
Los Angeles-based artist/vocalist/producer ayokay shares his immersive new album Digital Dreamscape. Released via Astralwerks, Digital Dreamscape brings ayokay’s emotionally potent brand of electronic music to a highly visual and sci-fi-infused narrative exploring themes of loneliness, surrender, and human connection. Download/stream the album HERE. To celebrate the arrival of Digital Dreamscape, ayokay is also premiering the latest single and video from the album: “Amnesia,” an exhilarating collaboration with Nashville-based alt-pop band Nightly — listen to “Amnesia” HERE, and watch the video HERE.
Accompanied by a series of surreal and cinematic videos, Digital Dreamscape follows protagonist Alex as he becomes entangled with a mysterious character named Chelle, an outsider who’s created a computer system that allows her to enter another reality. Joining them in this world, known as “Digital Dreamscape,” are multitudes of people who leave behind relics of their experiences — or decide to never return home.
Referring to Digital Dreamscape as a “love letter to electronic music,” ayokay sculpted each of the album’s moody and mesmerizing tracks with both limitless imagination and deep intentionality. “I like my music to offer an escape and an aesthetic that listeners can immerse themselves into,” says ayokay. “A world that is light on its feet, but one that offers depth where the entire spectrum of emotions can be exercised. I want listeners to sit down and watch the entire visual portion of the album as it plays alongside the music. I want them to let it take them to a different place for a second and allow their minds to be free to think up and feel whatever they want to feel, at least for the runtime of the project.”
A perfect embodiment of Digital Dreamscape’s endlessly hypnotic sound, “Amnesia” opens with a stark and soulful expression of longing and slowly builds to a thrilling intensity. With its prismatic rhythms and radiant pulses of synth, the track ultimately makes an irresistible hook out of its unnerving refrain: “Baby, we should crash my car/Get a little amnesia.”
Directed by Jonah George, the video for “Amnesia” resumes the narrative that first began with lead single “Better With You” and continued through previously released tracks “I Still Need You,” “Waiting For” with slenderbodies, and “If That’s What You Need.” This time around, we focus in on a figure fleetingly glimpsed in the visual for “If That’s What You Need” — a young woman running wildly through city streets, clutching a tattered piece of paper she eventually releases from a rooftop.
ayokay’s first full-length since his 2018 debut album In The Shape of A Dream, Digital Dreamscape also features collaborations with Stay Over and Quinn XCII (a childhood friend and longtime creative partner who joined forces with ayokay on his breakthrough single “Kings Of Summer,” a gold-certified 2016 release that’s amassed over 125 million streams on Spotify). An exclusive vinyl edition of Digital Dreamscape featuring bonus audio will be available at Urban Outfitters this summer.
Fresh off his recent tour with Elderbrook, ayokay hits the road with Emmit Fenn tomorrow night in San Diego. The 14-date run includes stops at The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles (on May 18) and New York City’s Irving Plaza (on June 2). Tickets are available HERE. See below for the full itinerary.
DIGITAL DREAMSCAPE TRACKLIST
1. Better With You
2. I’ll Be Alright (with Stay Over)
3. Amnesia (with Nightly)
4. All Mine
5. Oxygen
6. Someone Else
7. I Still Need You
8. Somebody Loves You
9. Waiting For (with slenderbodies)
10. Close Your Eyes and Dream of Falling
11. If That’s What You Need
12. Less Alone (with Quinn XCII)
13. I’ll Wait For You
AYOKAY TOUR DATES WITH EMMIT FENN
5.14.22 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
5.15.22 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
5.18.22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
5.19.22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
5.21.22 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
5.22.22 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
5.23.22 – Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club
5.25.22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
5.26 & 5.27.22 – Denver, CO @ Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
6.2.22 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
6.5.22 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
6.8.22 – Chicago, IL @Metro
6.9.22 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
Angelina Golt
About ayokay:
Born Alex O’Neill, Detroit-bred artist/vocalist/producer ayokay first burst onto the scene with his breakthrough single “Kings Of Summer,” featuring his childhood friend and frequent collaborator Quinn XCII. Since its arrival in summer 2016, the song has amassed over 125 million streams on Spotify and received gold certification from the RIAA. After delivering his debut EP in 2017, ayokay continued his upward momentum by releasing his acclaimed full-length debut In the Shape of a Dream in 2018. Featuring collaborations with Jeremy Zucker, Nightly, Future Jr., and more, the album includes several songs that find ayokay handling lead vocals for the first time. The following year, ayokay returned with we come alive., a six-track effort that ranges from festival-ready electro-pop to experimental anthems made for late-night drives. Shortly after the EP’s release he embarked on his first national headline tour, selling out such notable venues Bowery Ballroom (NYC) and The Roxy (Los Angeles). A sought-after producer/remixer who’s worked with hitmakers like Carly Rae Jepsen and Grouplove, he’s garnered over 350 million global catalogue streams on Spotify and earned critical praise from such outlets as Billboard, Earmilk, Variance Magazine, and more. With his most recent production credits including executive-producing Quinn XCII’s 2021 album Change of Scenery II, ayokay released his highly immersive and visionary album Digital Dreamscape in May 2022.