There’s something beautifully absurd about writing love songs at the end of the world- but that’s exactly what Higher Selves Playdate are doing. On ‘Take Me With You’, the standout single from their upcoming album ‘The New Apocalyptic’, the duo conjures a shimmering, art-rock ode to staying tender in a world designed to make you numb.
Built on intertwining guitar lines and breezy vocal harmonies, the track feels deceptively light. But don’t be fooled. Beneath its jangly charm is a quietly radical idea: that choosing love- real, vulnerable, day-in-day-out love- is an act of resistance. “Every time you go there, take me with you,” sings Jessica with gentle insistence, a line that carries more weight than it first lets on. It’s not about romantic escapism. It’s about staying with someone, even when everything around you says run.
There’s a spaciousness to the production that feels almost dreamlike- soft-edged, like a foggy morning after too little sleep. Drummer Christian Gangeri brings a subtle, propulsive groove that keeps the song grounded, while Steve’s melodic guitar work nods at Talking Heads-era playfulness filtered through modern indie-pop introspection. Think Camera Obscura meets The Feelies- but with a philosophical spine.
Philosophy is important here. This is a band that namedrops bell hooks and Baudrillard in the same breath, but does so with warmth, not pretension. Jessica and Steve met studying poetry, and it shows- in the lyrics and in the song’s architecture. It unfolds like a conversation between hearts that trust each other, even when the world doesn’t make sense.
Thematically, ‘Take Me With You’ sits at the centre of ‘The New Apocalyptic’, a record that looks straight into our fractured cultural mirror and decides to respond with curiosity, care, and a beat you can move to.
In the wrong hands, this could’ve been twee. But there’s too much thought here. Too much heart. It’s a love song for people who think too much and feel even more. A hand extended across the glitching matrix.
In a time when irony often feels like armor, ‘Take Me With You’ chooses sincerity. And in doing so, Higher Selves Playdate remind us that joy, tenderness, and shared wonder aren’t luxuries- they’re survival tools.