New York City alternative pop project Laptop return with their single “Xanadu,” a track disguised as a love song that ponders the paradise the American Dream promises but fails to deliver. Frontman Jesse Hartman and Nevis vocalist Anna Hadeed perform the song as a duet.
As its title suggests, “Xanadu” references an imagined perfect place and nods to Citizen Kane, where the name belongs to Charles Foster Kane’s vast, illusory estate. Additionally, the track evokes Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, in which Willy Loman’s belief in success and ownership collapses under reality. The song hones in on false security despite the promise of the American Dream. The New York group pairs warm, romantic imagery balanced against darker undertones of dissatisfaction felt by many Americans.
The video reinforces this idea, placing the duet in a calm setting on Oualie Beach in Nevis. The video cuts to almost sterile, carefully staged scenes of a couple chasing what materialism tells them will bring happiness. Instead, the ideal begins to collapse around them, revealing the song’s central irony. Kitschy postcard titles like “The Good Life” and “Live the Romance” add to the unease. This reflects how advertising sells happiness as something that can be purchased.
Returning from hiatus after releasing three albums in the late ’90s, Laptop now introduce a new record, On This Planet. Laptop balance bright synth-pop with ironic, precise lyricism. Since reviving the project, Laptop have built momentum through a series of recent singles, mixed by Grammy Award–winning producer Mario McNulty.
They are significant in how they capture the challenges of modern adulthood, now joined by Jesse Hartman’s son, Charlie Hartman. Charlie now navigating the chaos of contemporary living deepens the group’s perspective, making their reflections on adulthood feel more immediate.
Laptop release their much-anticipated album On This Planet on June 5 while “Xanadu” is available to stream now on major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp. For more information, visit the band’s official website.
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