In 2023, I listened to a song that would change my life forever. It was a small piece by an indie group called The Vanished People: “AWAKE”, their debut song. At the time, I was unaware how much the group was trending thanks to social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube. In November of that year, they also released an EP (mini album) called School Trip, which contained the song “Castaway.” Needless to say, this put them on the map for many people worldwide. After this release, I listened to everything they had the day it came out. So, I will give a small recap to get you up to speed as their newest EP, DESKTOP MUSIC 101, gains traction.
For a bit of background, The Vanished People is not an American music group; they actually come from Italy. They describe themselves in their Spotify description as “an independent music project that combines sounds from around the world and uses its songs to create cinematic scenarios and surreal settings.” The group is made up of two brothers, Piero and Jacob, who both write and produce the songs together, but they are also known for collaborating with other artists. From Koven Wei to Lotus Juice, they have grown worldwide.
Their music is mainly considered to be indie rock with elements of jazz and light pop. It’s notably hard to describe their music, since each song is almost like its own story. Let’s take “Moka” for example. The song is about someone being in a toxic relationship and knowing that, but staying in it. This song is very different from something like “QUEEN OF THE NIGHT,” which highlights themes of control and villainy.
The latest EP, DESKTOP MUSIC 101, was teased with half of the songs being released prior to the full album drop, including titles like “IT’S GOING DOWN,” “Stop Playing,” and “Y O U.” “ITS GOING DOWN” was released in July and was an incredible success, still being their new most popular song. This was also a collaborative piece with a Japanese music artist known as WaMi, who helped with vocals and made sure that the song showcased their multiculturalism. “Stop Playing” ended up falling a bit short, but prior to the release was one of my favorites. This song was also a collaboration, this time with an artist named Koven Wei, an Asian-American artist out of Toronto who makes similar music. The final song would be another collaboration with WaMi, “Y O U” was not met with the same acclaim that the previous songs received. The song got a total of 89,000 views on YouTube and isn’t even on the top 10 of their popular songs from Spotify.
For their final three songs, we had to wait until November 21st to listen, but it was certainly worth it: The first new song, “DANCE ALONE” would prove to be a huge success. It was a collaboration with Hashimero, another music artist from Asia. The song is truly incredible and bounces directly off “ITS GOING DOWN” to almost tell an overarching story. I’d argue it is indeed a full plotline, since the music video confirms that the person from their earlier song, “QUEEN OF THE NIGHT,” is the same one as “ITS GOING DOWN” and “DANCE ALONE.” Next was “Sorry,” a song which I can’t really say anything about. That’s not to say it’s a bad song, but it’s more generic than The Vanished People’s usual releases. The final addition to the EP, however, is an incredible addition: “Breath” is a truly breathtaking (pun intended!) song that I’d argue makes the entire EP marvelous. The first time I heard this was at around 1 AM when I stayed up to listen to the mini album when it came out, and I immediately was sent to tears with how good it is. The lyrics are magical, and I heavily recommend you listen to this song even if you aren’t sure about The Vanished People. Any fans of electro swing or pop music in general should check them out.
