By: Gemma Mastroianni
If you've been keeping up with todays trends in the music scene, it's no secret that a pop-punk revival is on the rise. As the years go by trends fluctuate, with many returning in an evolved way.
Artists Xarissa (Anna James) and MNDFL (Jody Tompkins) grew up listening to pop-punk music and are enthusiastic about the return of this early 2000/2010's trend, which helped inspire their new track "Never Coming Home" which was just released today.
This brand new passionate single covers a relationship ending, but you get a glimpse of both sides of it which is represented by each artist, almost creating a duel effect as they take turns singing verses, and come together in the chorus. Although this track contains many elements of electronic music and effects, it certainly still has a hint of that pop-punk edginess through each artists vocal delivery.
In terms of how this song was created, MNDFL originally wrote the hook. He presented it to James and she knew she had to jump on the track, where she wrote the verses to follow. Xarissa recorded her vocals partially from home, and then her outro vocals in MNDFL's home studio in his basement. MNDFL recorded his in a studio just outside of Toronto.
Towards the end of the song, both artists were joined by "a very happy and drunk group of people" (aka Xarissa's fiancé, Hunter, MNDFL's parents, Lisa & Terry, and their good friend, Basil), which is such a fun concept!
Album art was shot at an abandoned house in Toronto, not far from his home.
Learn more about each artist below:
Xarissa
Anna Xarissa James is a songwriter and musician from Gainesville, Florida, currently based in Atlanta. She recently moved from Toronto, where she met MNDFL, and has been collaborating with him as a producer. Her last release, "Popsicle Brain," was produced by him.
Since March 2020, she has grown an audience on TikTok (over 100k followers) and Instagram, posting daily videos about dogs, mental health, and the struggles of being an indie musician. She plans to release a few more singles before the end of 2021.
Toronto Based Artist/Producer, MNDFL, has been honing his skills in music since 2013. Originally a mix engineer in Toronto, MNDFL blended his mixing skills with his lifelong love of music to create a sound that is truly him. Growing up on Pop Punk bands like Blink-182 and Sum 41 while listening to the growing EDM scene helped shaped the fusion that MNDFL gravitates towards naturally.