MUSIC PREMIERE: GNASH - BELONG (FEAT. DENM)

We Are: The Guard label signee Denm looks for his place in the universe with the epic, emotive “Belong”!

Let’s face it - childhood usually isn’t easy for artists, musicians, and creative types. You don’t exactly get the fire to spend all day, every day huddled over notebooks, novels, crayons, pianos, or strings if you’ve got a busy social life or are super well-adjusted. Being an artist means being sensitive, as in aware - to your environment, the world we’re living in, and the passing moments of days, afternoons, and hours.

GNASH - BELONG FEAT. DENM

“I’ve always been a kid/trying to find where I belong,” DENM sings in an explosive, emotional chorus, over rising strings, sterling beats, and shout-a-long hooks. Thankfully, “Belong” is no dour bedroom isolationist pop, thanks to some guest verses from rapper/singer Gnash, who relates and sympathizes with DENM’s struggle, offering a bit of hope to counterpoint the pall. “It won’t be long before we find/where we belong.”

An outsider’s viewpoint can be a blessing, offering a clearer view of the world we’re living in - being IN the world but not OF it, to paraphrase Buddha. It’s hymns like DENM’s “Belong” that help put a salve on our batter spirits, our wounded hearts, our bloodied bodies, and shredded minds. Yes, life can be hard a lot of the time, especially when we’re young. But it DOES get better, especially when you find a calling.

L.A.’s DENM has clearly found his calling - writing shiver-worthy, goosebump inducing electropop. We’re super glad to have found DENM, and represent him on our very own label! We loved his sound so much, we had to sign him immediately. This is what we do at We Are: The Guard - patrolling the borders between pop culture and underground music, reporting back the best of what we find!

Listen to DENM on Spotify!

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.