BEST NEW POP SONG: AARON TAOS - VOODOO

Voodoo, as generally portrayed in pop culture, involves sticking pins or needles into a cloth effigy. The inflictions made on the doll supposably have some real-world effect upon a person for whom the doll is a stand-in. Blurring the lines between hypnosis and witchcraft, Voodoo is shown as an ancient mystical vehicle for controlling another person.  

Aaron Taos’ new track “Voodoo” plays on this notion of spellcraft, examining the exciting and nerve-wracking ways a new lover has of mesmerizing you and overriding your thought process. It’s a clever concept backed up by a series of instantly infectious pop hooks, first-rate production, and pristine vocals.  “Voodoo” blends elements of pop, psychedelic, and reggae for a unique sound that will be playing on loop in your head for days. 

The guitar loop is especially inspired, the type of riff that will burrow it’s way deep into the center of your brain.  Like Santa meets Sublime while Adam Levine sings vocals, “Voodoo” feels like a mixture of the familiar and the birth of something new. 

BEST NEW POP SONG: AARON TAOS - VOODOO

Along with being a great track, the backstory for “Voodoo” provides an important lesson in perseverance, as Aaron recently explained:

“Voodoo is about the supernatural power a new lover has over you. I originally produced the instrumentation of “Voodoo” almost two years ago. I knew I had something special with the guitar loop but just couldn’t find the right inspiration for vocal melodies/lyrics over it. I would keep coming back to the session every couple months to give it another shot, but just couldn’t nail the song… it was really frustrating actually cuz I loved the beat so much.”

Thankfully for all of us, Taos kept grinding on this song, eventually teaming up with frequent Halsey collaborator Larzz Principato to quickly produce a finished product the exceptional beat deserved. Aaron describes the process as near instantaneous. 

“During our first session together I showed him this instrumental and immediately we clicked on it. After a couple of hours, we finished the concept/vocal tracking”

“Voodoo” appears on Taos debut EP Night Thoughts, which dropped last Friday. A music video for the song is close behind, so keep an eye out for that.

The NYC-native will also be playing a few dates in Brooklyn this summer. In the interim, the ex-footballers is presumably basking in the glory that is the FIFA World Cup.

Hopefully with a healthy dose of cognitive dissonance.