There’s something about the 80s that refuses to fade away. The neon glow, the unapologetic anthems, the kind of rock-drenched dance tracks that made you want to turn the dial all the way up and let the world hear it leaking through your car speakers. SPECIAL EFFECTS is bringing that spirit back with a modern twist in his upcoming single, High, set to drop September 1, 2025.
Hailing from The Rock, SPECIAL EFFECTS isn’t new to the game. His history runs deep, with albums like Re-mixed (2010) and Domination (2011) already leaving a mark, not to mention the remix-heavy Revelation Remixes in 2016. But with High, he’s turning the clock forward and backward all at once—blending the electric pulse of dance music with a rough-edged rock attitude that feels like the kind of track you’d find sandwiched between a glam rock anthem and a sweaty dance floor banger in 1987.
We had the chance to get an early listen, and the production jumps out immediately. It’s slick without being sterile, bold without losing its edge. The guitars snarl, the rhythm thumps, and the vocal delivery hits that sweet spot between raw and infectious. There’s a deliberate tension in High—part pleasure-seeking, part letting go—that makes it feel both dangerous and liberating.
For SPECIAL EFFECTS, music has always been about more than just a beat or a hook. Growing up glued to the radio, he’s the kind of listener who didn’t just hear songs—he absorbed them, studied them, wanted to understand what made a track stick in your head and live rent-free in your chest. That same hunger is still there, pushing him to make music that gets under your skin in the best way possible.
Lyrically, High walks a fine line between lust and release, indulgence and reckoning. It’s brash and unapologetic, with lines that don’t just flirt with the edge. There’s a sense of throwing caution to the wind, of chasing the rush even when the ground underneath feels unsteady. It’s a song about desire, sure, but it’s also about the inevitable fallout of living without a filter.
High doesn’t pretend to be neat or tidy. It’s messy, sweaty, addictive—and that’s exactly the point. There’s an honesty in its roughness, a reminder that not every moment worth remembering is polished.
When asked what he wants listeners to take away, the answer isn’t a grand mission statement. It’s simpler: he wants you to feel better about yourself, to maybe find a little spark of truth or recklessness that makes you think about your own life differently, even just for three and a half minutes.
As September inches closer, keep your ears ready. SPECIAL EFFECTS is about to turn up the volume again. The question is—are you ready to feel that high?
Follow SPECIAL EFFECTS:
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/special-effects/331369501
https://soundcloud.com/specialeffects
