Words by: Julia Poholek

Berlin-based wunderkind, clide, has released his new single, “hotel room.” Perfectly timed as a pre-Valentine’s Day release, it explores a familiar and common feeling of re-connecting with lost love. It’s fair to say that most of us have a person in our past who’s played such a heightened role in our romantic life, but with whom we know a future just isn’t possible. You know the one — maybe you’ve suffered through one, two, five rounds of breakups with this same person. Maybe it’s taken you a number of years to process the split and move forward. Most of us have that person floating around somewhere in our past lineage of exes, and as much as we think we’re ‘over’ them, there’s no way we wouldn’t be tempted to jump back into that relationship if given the chance. This feeling of yearning for what almost was but will never be – that toxic and cyclical dynamic – is what is captured so well in “hotel room.”

At just 21 years old, clide has become a force to be reckoned with. He’s experienced rapid success since the start of 2021, accruing millions of streams through Spotify, Youtube, and Shazam. He has a unique emo-pop sound that appeals to an international audience, carrying a cadence that sounds authentically American despite his German roots.

“hotel room” has a concept that is unafraid to show clide’s vulnerability as he explores the growing despair of falling in love with an ex. Curiously though, this emotional narrative is juxtaposed with a sound that is driven by electric guitar. The song opens with a slow beat that introduces clide’s silky vocals, then quickly ramps up into a fast-tempo’d build that bursts into the song’s chorus. The electric guitar comes in hard, in a truly ‘fasten your seat belt’ kind of moment for listeners as we hear a genre-blending shift in tone that we weren’t expecting. The tempo increase mirrors the urgency that clide is experiencing in the lyrics – he’s about to fall back in love with his ex, and he needs to decide immediately if he’s going to seize that opportunity or not. “I’m cool, I’m cool with being friends/But I’m in your, in your bed again/I’m scared, too scared to make a move/‘Cause I can’t fall back in love with you.” This confusion and self-doubt is found at the heart of the song, making its way right into the hearts of listeners as we find our own romantic tribulations laced into clide’s lyrics.

Clocking in at just under two and a half minutes, clide’s new single, “hotel room,” conveys heavy emotions that are efficiently squeezed into a bite-sized moment in your day. It works on its own, and it also works as a song you can play on a loop without getting tired of it. The song packs a gut-punch by reminding you of that lost love in your own life, then softens the blow with the gift of its catchy beat.

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