I love to hear
your ringtone sound
I'm not in a space 
to respond now
I know, I know our Marco Polo
games will follow
I wish this didn't
stress me out

I keep thinking: "21." 

Brandon Riley's first single "Marco Polo" dropped earlier this year, on January 15, 2021. His visual style and artistic muse is a snapshot of pre-Depression era optimism--his latest round of promo photos evoke a vibe of a Chicago gangster in, say, 1921. And his sound, though original, and perhaps as much for the name as the sound, brings to mind the super-duo Twenty-One Pilots.

"Marco Polo" is smooth, its reverb-laden keyboards creating a modern soundscape. A light off-kilter drum track peppers the song with an undeniable groove. And his soft and airy vocal comes across almost indifferent, if it weren't for the stress described through the lyrics. 

There's something very relevant in his words. We've all felt that stress caused by that someone who we want to talk to, but at the same time don't want to at all. It's love. It's breakups. It's an age-old story that we've heard, dating back to perhaps when we were 21.