rei brown brings '90s boyband energy to new single "Forever" co-written by Joji

2020 has been quite the year for NYC-based Japanese musician rei brown, restarting his career with a string of stellar singles, "Forever" is brown's fourth solo track since he took a hiatus in 2018. Aside from growing solo success, his latest release was a collaboration with Joji, "Normal People" sits on the star's new album Nectar which also features BENEE, Yves Tumor and Omar Apollo.

"Forever" is a further collaboration with Joji, explaining the track's origins brown details how the pair sat down in 2017 to start work. "I remember we were joking around trying to write cheesy pop songs and ended up with a verse/chorus that we really liked." Some of those cheesy pop stapes remain in the track's final version, but by no means are the cheesy. In fact "Forever" is elevated by its incorporation of boyband staples like its stirring key change.

A voice memo for years, "Forever" was refreshed last year before taking its final form. "I met up with keshi for the first time when he was visiting New York," brown explains, "I played him the voice memo, he sang the hook back to me, and I knew right away that I wanted his help finishing the song."

The result is a stunning throwback moment which marries brown's sparring musical influences – lo-fi R&B, hook-ready pop and alternative electronica. "Forever" firmly builds anticipation for more from this bedroom pop titan as the new year hits us.