Despite its title, “We Don’t Care,” the new single from Kai Exos, exudes the happiest vibe about not caring. The Toronto/LA-based artist takes a classic walking New Orleans blues horn line, sprinkles his creative producer’s magic, and turns “We Don’t Care” into a lyrically liberating, joyous, ‘gotta move your body to it’ dance track.
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The track is premiered here today on American Songwriter, taken from his new album Houseplants which will be released May 1.
“We Don’t Care” offers a positive universal message of empowerment and celebrating yourself. “The stuff I’m saying and writing about is very important to self-worth and identity,” Exos says. “It’s not really about not caring. It’s about the rest of the world looking at you. There’s a kind of freedom in the lyrics. “Go ahead and shout/Cause we found out/Go on ahead and stare/Cause we don’t care.”
“We started recording in Toronto in the fall of 2019. I co-produced this record with Choppalot from New Orleans, and it was cool to have Rebirth Brass Band in on the recording. It added a collegiate vibe that so many of my friends love, too. It was a cool evolution over the next couple of months. I finished it when I came to LA. That’s become the method for working now where I start it in one studio in Toronto (Noble Street), and then finish it up in another in my home studio in LA.”
Exos’ musical influences span a vast cross-section of styles, from hip-hop to classic Motown and British Invasion. “Timbaland and Missy Elliot are top tops for me. ‘Get Ur Freak On’ is in my top 10. I still discover new things about it even though I’ve listened to it a thousand times.”
Exos’ appreciation for the classics came from his mother’s record collection of pop songs that delivered a lot of message in a short amount of time. “My mom was a child of the 60s. Those British Invasion and Motown songs were short. I’m in that bag, that’s where I want to be.
“There’s a line in one of my new songs that says, “when I’m done, I’m really done.” It’s not about music production but it can be applied (laughs). I say what I say and in arranging and composing I know exactly how I want the song to go. On previous records, people would say in a session ‘hey we need a couple more lines’ and I found myself doing that a lot. What I originally wrote in the moment ended up having to be stretched or said differently. I don’t like having to do that in music, where you’re saying something again in a different way. I get that for repeating a verse but consciously I just want to say what I’m saying. It’s concise.”
“The stuff I’m saying and writing about is very important to self-worth and identity. I just want to get to that faster. I’ve gone from being very focused and spending a lot of time honing my songwriting craft to getting it down to a finer point and being more precise.”
Kai Exos photo credit: Juan Veloz
