February 2021 – Singapore – Breakthrough indie-pop auteur Will Joseph Cook teams up with rising bedroom pop star Chloe Moriondo to share a new version of his 2020 viral hit “Be Around Me”. The original version has already been streamed more than 20 million times in its original version and continues to outperform all its guitar-pop rivals at streaming services, “is about those moments when you’re teetering on the edge of falling for someone, the transition between playing it cool and showing vulnerability.”
Will and Chloe’s vocals sweetly complement each other as the nervous flirtation told in the track unfolds. “Be Around Me” blew up on TikTok at the end of 2020 and has been used in over a million videos on the app to date. Besides TikTok, the song also found success on Shazam, and entered Spotify Viral Charts in Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
The new version of the song arrives with a brand new video, which perfectly encapsulates the pair’s online meeting and collaboration on the track. Will collaborates once again with short filmmaker, actor and YouTuber Bertie Gilbert, who directed the original dizzying video for “Be Around Me”, which has surpassed 3.5 million YouTube views.
About the collaboration, Will says: “I first came across Chloe’s music after she used the Be Around Me audio on TikTok, so it’s crazy that that led us to an actual collab. The first pass Chloe sent over was super instant, she crushed the tone straight away. The journey I’ve been on with this track has been wild, I love how realised it sounds as a duet. Collaborating across continents without ever meeting in person was an interesting one. I feel like the distance between us both played really nicely into Be Around Me’s lyrics, singing about longing to be near the person who’s running rings around your mind. I feel like how well this one turned out has been really inspiring to create with other artists far and wide.”
Chloe adds, “this song is so fun and groovy, i feel so lucky to be able to sing some of my favorite parts of this song with will!! i love that sweet british mustache man and all of his boppin clever lyrics”.
“Be Around Me” comes from Will’s acclaimed second album ‘Something To Feel Good About’, a record about searching for answers as you emerge from your teenage years into the real world, soundtracked by Will’s trademarked idiosyncratic pop melodies and underscored with real heart. Released independently via Will’s own label Bad Hotel, ‘Something To Feel Good About’ has seen incredible success, especially with “Be Around Me”, his biggest song to date which has reached all corners of the globe, propelled by fans’ (new and old alike) unadulterated love for his infectious melodies and honest songwriting.
“I can communicate with music better than I did before,” Will says. “I knew what sounded good, and what I liked to do melodically, but then in terms of something with an emotional connection, that’s happened more on this album. Releasing through my own label Bad Hotel has also been really exciting, it’s definitely opened a lot of doors to more creativity and self-expression. I wanted to write something really direct and unfiltered, those are the kind of songs that are important to me. Ones that speak on raw experiences with honesty and humour, lyrics that make people feel less alone.”
