North Carolina artist Donnie Doolittle makes distinctively moody, synth-driven anthems that hover between dark retro-pop and melancholic rock-and-roll. Over the past half-decade he’s earned a following for his playful approach to darkness, blending bright, poppy melodies into ominous soundscapes with cinematic sensibility. Called everything from “Southern New-Wave” to “Goth Americana” by the press, his genre-bending sound has drawn comparisons to singular acts like Orville Peck, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and Iggy Pop, with releases accompanied by carefully-honed imagery and thematic narrative videos engaging a range of senses. “I want to provide a full experience—to use my resources to create a palpable ambiance,” he says. 

FFO: Nick Cave, Orville Peck, Timber Timbre, TYPE O NEGATIVE, Lee Hazelwood, and Leonard Cohen