The first time I watched "On My Mind / Charge It To The Game," a two-in-one video from Patrick Paige II that's debuting on The FADER today, I had to hit pause like 30 seconds in. There's only so much bawling I can do in public, and "On My Mind," featuring trademark buttery vocals from Syd, is an unexpected punch to the gut. The song is a written as a letter to his sister in the wake of their mother's passing and to address strains in the siblings' relationship. Patrick is perhaps better known as The Internet's wildly talented, perfectly loc'ed bassist/producer, but it turns out he's pretty damn good at rapping, too.
"I wrote this song for my sister sometime a couple years ago. During our falling out for the first year and a half after our mother's passing, things were pretty rough between us," he explained in an email. "I didn't know how to talk to her about how I felt and often times I was honestly too upset to want to talk to her, and vice versa, so I wrote it out and tried to express everything I could the best way I knew how at the moment. Thankfully, we're in a better place now. She hasn't heard the song, seen the video, and I haven't told her about it. I want it to find it's way to her." My heart!!!!!
The second half of the clip offers a slight shift in tone via pitched-down-vocals, a hazy hook from Kari Faux, and appearances from Patrick's bandmates in The Internet. The single comes from his forthcoming solo album, Letters of Irrelevance, due out May 18.