Ellie Herring - “Why’d You”

Unlike the more prominent Ellie that also released new music this week, Herring sounds like she knows what makes a big pop song, which is why it’s so fun to see her slyly invert the formula at every turn. Herring’s music falls definitively under the electronic umbrella, but she’s engaging and personality-filled in a way that this type of music often isn’t. “Why’d You,” the Kentucky producer’s dizzying new single, is an art-rave freakout of triumphant proportion, built on a beat that sounds like a heart palpitation. Little cackles fly off in the background, as if the track itself is sizing up the listener to see if they can handle the rush. “Why’d You” breaks down and builds itself back up again, proudly displaying the mechanisms that make it tick, like a pop song with all the air sucked out of it.