From Forthcoming EP ‘American Tarot’ — Available May 15
Sumi X is stepping into the national conversation with her new single “American Dream,” out May 15 and the first offering from her forthcoming EP American Tarot.
“American Dream” is mid-tempo electro-pop built around a cool, controlled tension, until the chorus arrives and military drums push up through the mix, turning the song into something that feels like a eulogy and a call to arms at once. It is a song about the fading promise of America, and the quieter, more intimate war it wages on the women living inside it.
“‘American Dream’ is a song about the death of the American Dream and the horrors happening in this country right now,” Sumi X says. “Some of those things are called out directly, like the ICE kidnappings in the bridge, but more broadly, the song is a place for people to feel less alone in what they’re feeling.”
Reaching for the flag directly, the chorus asks “Look at all the stars, have they lost their shine?” while the lyric “Do you have a dream? ‘Cause I’m losing mine” carries the emotional weight of the record. The first verse doesn’t let anyone off the hook, examining the ways boys are conditioned from early on to expect women to be quiet, obedient, and grateful for the space they’re given.
“I can’t leave her” closes the record, a small phrase carrying the full weight of its resolution. “That’s where the hope comes in,” Sumi X explains. “It means we’re not going to leave America and all it should represent. We’re going to fight. But we have a lot of work to do.”
A creative reckoning drove the single into existence. After a decade of songwriting, Sumi X found herself unable to separate her art from the moment she was living in. “I got tired of writing heartbreak songs and dance-pop songs while so much chaos was happening in the world around us,” she says. “I felt like art should try to reflect the truth of the times we’re living in.”
Born Sumi Krishnan in Pittsburgh, PA, Sumi X is a former tech CEO and 30 Under 30 honoree who walked away from a thriving business career to chase the dream she had been carrying the longest. The daughter of Indian immigrants who built their American Dream from the ground up, she grew up watching ambition operate without apology, and brought that same energy into the music industry. Now LA-based, her sound draws influence from Adele, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, and Olivia Rodrigo, among others.
“American Dream” is available everywhere May 15.
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