“Behind the Sun” is a powerful track, driven by pronounced percussive thunder cracks that are somewhat reminiscent of the drumline that ODESZA utilised on their “A Moment Apart” tour. The song also makes use of a rousing vocal sample from Iranian singer Simin Ghanem’s song “Seeb”.

Speaking of the song, according to a recent press release, ODESZA said:“While digging through old records we came across a song by the legendary Iranian singer, Simin Ghanem. It was such a beautifully haunting vocal that we couldn’t really get it out of our heads. Slowly we started to build these symphonic elements around her and piece by piece it started to become this big anthemic track. We wanted to incorporate pieces of live drumming in a new way and ended up running various snare drum elements through a resonator and modulating them to each hit. Overall we really love how this song came together, bringing the past into the present is something we find really exciting and inspiring.”

The release of the new tune follows some significant milestones for the Bellingham duo, which consists of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight. including the recent announcement of their forthcoming ‘The Last Goodbye’ amphitheatre tour (which sold over 350k tickets during the initial 72-hour on-sale period, and has now nearly sold out completely), their recent sound design & curation of the HP Antarctic Dome at this year’s Coachella and their track “Love Letter (feat. The Knocks)” trending on TikTok.

“Love Letter (feat. The Knocks)” dropped earlier this year, along with album sister tracks “The Last Goodbye (feat. Bettye LaVette)” and “Better Now (feat. MARO)”. Billboard offered warm praise of“The Last Goodbye (feat. Bettye LaVette)”, calling it “a sleek, propulsive stunner” while the NY Times said it “brings some Slavic melancholy to four-on-the-floor dance music, samples the most heart-rending phrases of LaVette’s vocals and stretches out the anguish, proving again how classic the song remains”.

A recent press release said of Odesza’s highly anticipated new record: “The upcoming album is set to be the duo’s most ambitious album to date. A project rife with brightness and emotion, nostalgic yet rooted in the present, it serves as a sweeping sonic experience that speaks to themes of connection, reminiscence, and the impact we impart on one another.”

On the forthcoming “The Last Goodbye” tour, ODESZA will be performing a brand-new set and visuals on their biggest headlining tour to date. The duo will be embarking on an amphitheatre run featuring special guests Sylvan Esso, as well as additional support from the likes of San Holo, Elderbrook, Ben Böhmer and Foreign Family Collective acts: ford., Gilligan Moss, & NASAYA. Details on full dates and support notation can be found here.

“Better Now” comes just a few weeks after ODESZA’S first non-collaborative musical release in four years; “The Last Goodbye”, a hazy yet danceable tune that features a soaring vocal sample from soul singer Bettye LaVette’s “Let Me Down Easy”. You can listen to “The Last Goodbye” on all available streaming services, or view the music video here. The single was welcomed very warmly indeed by fans, achieving over eight million streams globally in just one week.

“Better Now” is a song defined by ODESZA’S signature lush soundscapes and driving beats, but also greatly prioritises Maro’s delightful vocal lines and infectious hooks. Commencing with a dusty, fragmented drum sample over distant backing vocals, Maro’s voice soon takes centre stage in the mix as gentle synths and keyboards tinker in the background, leading up to a dynamic chorus driven by a pulsing synth bass and a thundering kick drum.

Speaking on the track, ODESZA stated, according to a recent press release: “It’s funny because we tried so many different collaborations with vocalists in varying genres to try to find the right fit for this song when we first made it, but for whatever reason nothing felt right. We’ve been big fans of MARO and when we sent her a short handful of demos, this was the one she resonated with, and we knew she was going to do something really special with it. Truthfully, you would have to ask MARO the meaning of this tune, but to us ‘Better Now’ is about the realisation that putting yourself out there is always worth it in the end.”

The song carries flavours of ODESZA’S 2017 full-length album A Moment Apart , an album that saw the duo collaborating with vocalists from several different genres, such as Leon Bridges and Regina Spektor. The album is gold-certified, and obtained two GRAMMY nominations for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording for the single “Line of Sight”, which featured WYNNE and Mansionair. The album is available via all streaming services, and for those of you unfamiliar with ODESZA’S stunning musical catalogue, you can take a listen to “Line of Sight” at the YouTube link below.