Taking into account the fact that we’ve just Rip Van Winkled from March 2020 through May 2021, the new single from Tokyo Police Club vocalist Dave Monks arrives immediately after the Toronto artist’s debut solo record, which dropped in October 2019—again, that was kinda like…only like seven months ago when you think about it. But in that time, the songwriter’s music has shifted from a breezier take on TPC’s no-frills, late-’00s indie rock sound into the realm of fairly danceable and heavily Auto-Tuned pop.
“Wild Like Me” precedes a new chapter in Monks’ music career, arriving ahead of his sophomore album I’ve Always Wanted to Be Me—a title that supports the sense of comfort heard on the track (and seen in its TikTok-like choreographed dance video, debuting below) and the independent spirit that led to Monks releasing the record on his newly launched label Ghost Pepper Records.
“In my daydreams, I know exactly what I’m doing,” he says, explaining the origin of the new track. “When I write a song, it’s on a hallowed guitar, on a clear misty morning, and I pick out the undeniable tune I’ve always been destined to sing. And I know exactly what I’m doing when I step into the studio. When I take that step, it is in correctly weathered boots that complement my correctly vintage outfit. And I know exactly what I’m doing when it shows up in your Instagram feed, via one of those record labels that, when mentioned, elicits a silent nod of approval. My bulletproof image appears on your phone and proclaims: I know exactly who I am!
“You probably have your own version of this fantasy. But pretty soon, it doesn’t hold up. Whether it’s through something beautiful or difficult, we learn that life is too precious to spend it as anyone other than our true, complicated, messy selves. You bare your heart and chase your dreams because this is your one chance and you know it. That’s what being ‘wild’ is to me. ‘Wild Like Me’ was a stab in the dark that took me to a place I wasn’t expecting to go. Which, along with making a choreographed dance video, had me flying in the face of that comforting daydream every step of the way. The video was choreographed by my girlfriend and I in my living room and filmed around Toronto on my phone.”
Watch Monks go places he wasn’t expecting to go below.
