Fauness turns insomnia into a weirdo pop banger on “Street Song”

"It's not my engine that's broken, it's the brakes," Fauness sings on "Street Song." The London-based artist is singing about the maddening feeling of not being able to sleep, but you sense she could just as easily be talking about her creative spirit. "

Street Song," her debut single and the first on Jam City's new label Earthly Records, balances delicacy and danger over an electronic-pop beat that dangles its legs over the edge of a fierce, experimental clifftop. It's an impressive feat and one that begs for an instant replay. The accompanying video, meanwhile, offers up a pastel-hued take on English countryside life which is equal parts idyllic and disconcerting.

Speaking to The FADER via email, Fauness said: "'Street Song' was written during a period of chronic insomnia. I felt like I was at war with the night and the only thing that made sense was translating this feeling into music. As I lay awake, I kept thinking about an article I'd come across on how the brain flushes toxic waste during sleep; the overwhelming toxicity of my being, of all beings living in polluted environments, was impossible to ignore during those quiet hours, when everyone around me was asleep. Anyone with insomnia knows how vivid your dreams can be when sleep does eventually find you. The surreal beauty of the colours and places I saw when, one night, I finally drifted off are the basis of the song.”

Fauness's debut EP, Toxic Femininity, is due later this year. Check out the "Street Song" video above.