Listen to “Red Flag” by Suzanne Kraft

Looking back at Suzanne Kraft’s past decade, it’s almost as though his discography were written in disappearing ink. Diego Herrera (a Los Angeles native now based in Amsterdam) started out with languid house and slow-motion disco, but his music has gradually become more diffuse over time, passing through the drowsy Balearic beats of 2015’s Talk From Home and the barely-there new age of 2017’s Passive Aggressive, with frequent collaborator Jonny Nash. Steady beats and sumptuous grooves gave way to wisps of tone offering only the faintest outline of a musical form. But with his forthcoming album About You, a faded image comes rushing back into focus. The record marks a significant stylistic departure: In place of dance music or ambient, Herrera throws himself into a strain of lush, buzzing indie pop with a miniaturized feel—like My Bloody Valentine playing inside a snow globe.

Lead single “Red Flag” is a melancholy highlight. It’s a simple sound, almost a simplistic one: Crisp, sparse drumming sets the frame for a wistful chord progression on guitar and electric bass. But the deeper you listen, the more the layers open up. One guitar becomes many, and synths expand as they slip out of tune; two dimensions grow into three. Doubling his voice across octaves and assuming a weathered tone that vaguely recalls the Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler, Herrera turns out to be a surprisingly compelling singer, zeroing in on a single cryptic image—“Red, red flag/Like a candle burning”—and letting the grain of his voice do most of the talking. It’s a cozy take on bedroom pop: a private moment brought vividly to life.