ICYMI: Manrelic Releases New Single “Stronger”

Past feature Manrelic—the pop-funk project of local singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and general aesthete Jared Park—released long-awaited single “Stronger” this morning.

It’s the first bit of new music we’ve heard from Park since 2016’s Manrelic, and it doesn’t disappoint. Buoyed by a driving, “Dancing in the Dark”-style beat, “Stronger” is the sound of Park turning self-doubt into triumph. When he nearly screams, “Why am I not stronger? / Stronger than before” over a bleepy synth hook that wouldn’t sound out of place on Daft Punk’s Discovery, you don’t get the sense this is a lamentation. Rather, it’s a call to arms—a question that forces you to examine your own sense of autonomy and mental fortitude (and encourages you to change if you don’t like what you see). Plus, if that “Baby I’m a Star”-adjacent outro doesn’t get you moving, we don’t know what will. Just don’t blame us if it makes you go all Footloose as you leave the office today.

Look out for more new music from Park next month, but in the meantime, you can revisit our December 2015 profile on Manrelic here and listen to “Stronger” below.

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Chelsea Kaiah James

Why aren't there any ears sculpted onto the presidents of Mt. Rushmore? Because American doesn't know how to listen. - Unkown