News: Retrograded releases the EP "Think Of Me"

Photo Credit: Ben Ward

Retrograded, aka Jackson Klarsfeld, is an NYC-based artist dabbling in visual arts, such as photography, videography, and graphic design alongside his passion for music. The 22-year-old California-born artist has created a discography that boasts his wide range of influence. Drawing inspiration from alternative indie, lofi hip-hop, pop-punk, and everything in between, Retrograded has established a unique sound bordering bubbly pop you can’t help but dance to, with an emphasis on crafting meaningful lyrics akin to that of indie and singer-songwriter genres. With his debut EP Spaceship Boy and the follow-up album Red Lights at Midnight, Retrograded has garnered over 800,000 streams and over 20,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Earning rave reviews from the likes of Noisetrend, For the Punks, A1234, and more, all eyes are on Retrograded as he quickly cements himself as an NYC-based genre-bending artist. The independent artist has already taken 2022 by the reins, playing live shows at Mercury Lounge and Berlin Under A. Multifaceted in every sense of the word, Retrograded passionately and artistically conveys his story in any and every way he can. With the release of Think of Me on February 25th, Retrograded is ready to show the world what he’s been working on for the past two years.

With a strong interest in film production and creation, music production became an exciting avenue for Retrograded to explore his artistic abilities. After learning of a university-sponsored film festival with a music category during his freshman year of college, he approached song-making with a “why not?” attitude. Any chance he could, Retrograded submitted his music videos for school projects and continued shooting them for fun with his friends. By the time his sophomore year came around, Retrograded had an album's worth of songs and videos to accompany each track. Following the successful album release of Red Lights at Midnight in 2020, the widespread positive reception of the track "Hi I Miss You" motivated Retrograded to expand his music production knowledge. After connecting over social media with Donny Debonair—an alias for Miluakee native Ryan Gorski—the two formed "Highway Flowers", a project allowing them to send musical ideas back and forth. Pitching ideas through text, recording voice memos, and working together over phone calls, Highway Flowers finalized their 7-track EP in 2021 titled Something New, without ever meeting in person. The highest streamed track off of the EP, "Slice" has garnered over 24,000 plays since its initial release as a single in 2020. The challenges presented by the distance between the artists eventually caused the project to be put on hold and has led Retrograded to focus back on his solo career with new ideas and a fresh outlook on songwriting. Now, Retrograded aims to produce the type of music he enjoys, rather than trying to predict what’s popular.

His latest project "Think Of Me" includes a 3-track EP and a series of videos, one for each song, which have been released throughout March. My favorite song among them is "Sunday Coffee" because of its light and sunny vibes with a rhythm and chorus that will stuck in your head for days, but the other two tracks are interesting and with deep meanings as well. I'm very happy to have had the opportunity to meet this multifaceted young artist - my best wishes to him to always find the way to fully express himself and his talent through the world!

Think Of Me discusses letting go of anxiety, and passively letting thoughts and emotions come and go as they please. "Things might not make sense right now but you’ll be okay" is a clear message throughout the EP. The 3-track EP showcases the California native’s ability to create explosive instrumental moments accompanied by smooth vocal layering and encapsulates styles ranging from EDM, lofi hip-hop, and indie-pop. Retrograded describes the genre-bending EP as a product of his artistic growth. As the 22-year-old self-made artist learned more and grew into his music he realized that if it's a good song, all the little stuff doesn't matter. "I started making all of these songs over two years ago and left them to collect dust because I thought they weren't good enough. It was so fun to go back and finish these three tracks, and the fact that I’ve had them for so long makes them that much more meaningful to me", he says.

The video for "Sunday Coffee" is the first of a three-part series including a connecting storyline through videos for each of the songs on the EP. The grainy collection of shots filmed on a vintage camera take us back to the artist’s Grandfather’s ranch in Salinas, California and feature Retrograded exploring the property, sipping on a hot cup of coffee, and dancing alongside his various farm animal friends. The song is the artist’s attempt to console someone special to him during a low point in their life. Coupled with the music video, "Sunday Coffee" is a cozy reminder that not everything is going to make sense in life, but there will always be someone that wants to be there for you and see you succeed. 

The second video in the series, "Stars" begins passing through the window of Klarsfeld’s Brooklyn apartment to show the artist finishing the edit for the previous video. It is immediately clear that life is not as warm and happy as it was when he filmed “Sunday Coffee”, and that he is feeling the weight of his decision to bring this project to life. An emotional rollercoaster, the video weaves between the real world and the paracosm inside the artist’s head, blurring the lines between imagination and reality. "Stars" ends with Klarsfeld beginning to edit the next video.

 

The final video in the series, "Think Of Me" is set in two locations: the piano where the song was originally recorded and a getaway weekend in the Catskills with a group of close friends. It is a collection of grainy vintage home video moments of Klarsfeld and his friends smiling and laughing - a gentle reminder that "things might not make sense right now, but someday soon we’ll figure out that we just need to breathe. If it helps, maybe just think of me". If nothing else, this video is a message to the artist from himself to look back at these moments that he captured and remember that feeling of being okay.

  

"You go back through any of his previous releases and quickly see him go from lo-fi to electronic to indie pop whilst continuously adding his own twist to the genres, giving them his own sonic flavour" - A1234

"As Klarsfeld is taking steps into the daunting, music industry world, Think of Me is his first serious venture into it" - Marist Circle

"The energy in the room was at an all time high during this closing set, at one point I was even convinced the floor was going to cave in from the sheer amount of force bouncing on top of it" - For the Punks 

Instagram: @retrograded.tunes

Links: Retrograded