In ‘DESOLATION,’ TOOPOOR flees for her life.
TOOPOOR is back with a new sound and perspective on her music after a brief hiatus. She’s been discreetly working on new material with producer Lucius Arthur, and the first of their collaborations, “DESOLATION,” was published this week as the first single from a debut album due out later this year.
This single, which is gentler and more melodic than TOOPOOR’s earlier work, depicts her mourning the loss of herself and her spouse. When she realized she didn’t recognize herself in the mirror, the Los Angeles artist began writing about anything from toxic, codependent relationships to death in order to find solace and “the freedom to find yourself again,” as she describes it.
“Lost the pretty bits of me,” TOOPOOR adds, reflecting on her long, difficult path. “After dedicating my entire being to the wrong human, this is exactly how I feel.” However, with time and mending, we can reclaim those lovely features.”
TOOPOOR wanted the accompanying music video to feel “organic and authentic” because the song is so intimate. So she enlisted the help of her “besties,” including PISSKISS, and edited the tape herself to create a voyeuristic aesthetic with real diary entries overlaying black-and-white night vision frames.
Everything was shot at Joshua Tree, California, which is close to TOOPOOR’s hometown. She wanted to draw on her background as someone who was born and raised in a desert city. “My idea was to be chased and run for my life,” she adds, using photos of her sprinting naked to represent emancipation and escape from trauma. “Which is basically what I’ve been attempting for years: run.”
TOOPOOR’s “DESOLATION” is her first official release in two years, following her collaboration with Killstation on “Casadastra” in 2020. After years of working as a DJ, she broke into the music world in 2019 with “Crazy Girls,” an industrial, hard-hitting debut that relied on similar themes of toxicity and mental health.
