F  L  A  U  N  T

A duo in the classic sense, Samuel Shea and Julien O’neill have known each other since 2014, honing the creative dynamic of WARBLY JETS over the course of a debut album, an EP, thousands of tour miles traveled, and too many hours in the studio to count. The result is the alternative duo’s second LP, MONSTERHOUSE (due out November 12): a swing for the fences pulling from marquee influences like Rick Rubin, Run The Jewels, Billie Eilish, and Guero-era Beck. Their newest single, the bass-heavy, funk-laced “TMI” represents this heady mixture perfectly, the thumping drum loops, waves of synths, and sampled strings all crackling with the energy of two distinct talents working as one. A song about living in the (too much) Information Age and the undeniable effect that has on our psyche comes with a John Frost-directed video—a literal take on the song’s sentiment as we watch Shea and O’neill get taken over by technology. 

For a track that sounds so massive, it’s a jolt to realize that every note started and ended with two guys hunkered down in a studio in downtown LA, a studio they practically lived in for the 6 months they spent making the album. “Creatively speaking we pushed ourselves massively to make this record,” explains Shea. “There was a huge learning curve to make this all ourselves, but it’s all about trust for us.” Multi-instrumentalists, songwriters, and producers, Shea and O’neill know the sum is greater than the parts, and have learned to feed off of each other’s abilities. “We own our strengths as individuals and look to each other for places we know the other is capable of dominating,” explains O’neill. “That’s the key to a process where we can really lean on each other instead of playing tug of war.” 

As for the album, the duo describes MONSTERHOUSE as “a patchwork narrative of our own experiences over the last few years,” but listening through the other tracks, something much bigger arises. Motifs of technology overload, 24-hour news cycles, social media facades, and trying to find out who you actually are in the thick of all that, feel universal and surprisingly urgent as we find ourselves living in a world on the brink. 

How can we be at peace with ourselves when everything is on fire? Where do we find joy? What makes us human when we’re surrounded by machines? These are the questions WARBLY JETS grapple with, over hooky, groove-heavy tracks, layeredwith whirring synths and irresistible choruses—making for a new dystopian-pop that somehow feels just right for the current moment.