It’s been two and a half years since Max Holiday released his self-titled EP as Young Holidays, a swift, four-song shot of jittery guitar-pop that seemed like the type of thing he’d probably follow up in a couple of months, not a couple of years. In the years since, Holiday immersed himself in electronic music and played DJ sets around the city, but struggled to write new pop songs. “It was becoming a huge mental block/obsession for me,” he says, but that’s behind him now: Last week he released his first single with his new project Bleach Athletixx, which spit-shines Young Holidays’ concise pop with some ’80s synth trappings. “California Future” joins the pantheon of great little songs about ducking responsibilities and doing drugs all afternoon. Think of it as a scrappy, slackery counterpart to Miguel’s “Do You…,” except here drugs aren’t a prelude to sex. Getting high and admiring a fresh paint job is its own reward.
Stream the track below and keep an eye out for more of them in the future. Holiday says he’s eying a late spring/early summer release for a Bleach Athletixx EP.