New York City-based Japanese producer and musician rei brown releases his ethereal first single today, Could I Be Somebody.

At the center of the synth ballad, rei says the single captures the timid whispers of a new crush and the exploration of queer love and identity.

Could I Be Somebody is an ode to the unique loneliness of the young queer experience. On the track, rei wonders, “Could I be somebody, could I be somebody you love?” as he navigates the strange secrecy and different realities that queer people often exist in.

Rei explains the lyrics have roots in his time throughout middle school when he found himself feeling lonely and not engaging in the same relationships that his peers were.

“In middle school, I was realizing I was queer, and navigating that loneliness,” rei said.

“Other people were starting to have relationships and it felt like that world was cut off to me. I felt like someone must be out there for me, but I just couldn’t see them or feel them — as if they were in a different plane of reality.”

However, he began to realize that he could create his own reality– a secret one where he could be safe, and one that his heterosexual peers would never understand.

Rei continues, “When another boy and I came out to each other and started dating it really felt like entering a parallel dimension. We got to form our own little secret world where we could be safe together.”

Directed by Zachary Bailey and produced by Ava Doorley, the cinematic music video follows two kids as they wistfully run through a quiet, gleaming forest. The fleeting butterflies of a new crush begin to develop between the two, and they later chase each other into an empty, abandoned house. It concludes with a young rei reaching into a portal, bringing viewers into his sci-fi, queer fantasy world.

“We wanted to convey a coming of age story that captured the innocence of youth in the video that was reflective of my own life navigating closeted relationships for the first time.”

Could I Be Somebody is out now.

Image: @bbyclaude

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