PETER MANOS‘ DEBUT EP DO YOU TURN RED? IS OUT NOW
Peter Manos released his debut EP Do You Turn Red? On July 15th 2020. Do You Turn Red? contains six tracks recorded in his L.A. home studio – including his new single, “Tennessee,” which has already amassed over one million streams – plus Manos’ 2017 debut single, “In My Head.”
“Peter Manos is your new favorite indie R&B singer,” said Flaunt in a feature. “His lyrics encapsulate everything from loss and loneliness to hope and happiness, recalling beautiful memories and meaningful conversations.”
The New York Times noted, “Peter Manos is from Texas, but ‘Tennessee’ is no country song. It’s an electronic lament, Auto-Tuned and steeped in James Blake and Frank Ocean; it also hints at the Beatles’ chromatic chord progressions…even as programmed arpeggios swell to support him, he’s left uncomprehending and alone, pure male angst.” Idolator observed, “this is the kind of song that casts an uneasy spell on the listener – commanding a spot on any respectable late-night playlist.”
Hailing “In My Head” as a “Song You Need to Know,” Rolling Stone observed, "In a world largely ruled by speedy trap tempos, ‘In My Head’ proves that ballads can still surprise.” Manos made “In My Head” in his dorm room at Nashville’s Belmont University. A buddy who helped him record warned him, “Remember, people’s first songs don’t usually do anything.” Yet “In My Head” found its way onto numerous playlists, from Spotify’s Pop Rising all the way to Today’s Top Hits. Combined global streams of the track now top 300 million.
Do You Turn Red? is both a guidepost pointing toward what may come and a snapshot of this moment. Here is Manos at the front of his career, full of ideas, and all of them tangibly intimate. He has a knack for carving out his own space within something familiar, as these songs make clear. His taste dovetails perfectly with his skills as a one-stop shop singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer. There’s the slyly sexy groove topped by his delicate falsetto on “You Don’t Know Me.” There’s the hypnotic cascade of guitar and odd samples that underpin “Zach’s Ballad.” And the way that “At Night” starts as a solitary psych-soul excursion but ends in a hail of live drums and ghostly oohs. “Do You Turn Red?” arrives after five songs of blue mood like a sudden rush of blood. It plays like a confession and feels as raw. Taken with his lyrics – equal parts diaristic share and poetic scrawl – it all feels deeply personal.
Manos produced the EP’s six new tracks with Sam Ricci (SZA, Kendrick Lamar). Do You Turn Red? was mixed by Jeff Ellis (Frank Ocean) and mastered by Dale Becker (Khalid).