"I have a fear of intimate moments," sings Isaac Dunbar on his new anthemic single, "intimate moments," out today. But the 17-year-old queer musician isn't alone in this feeling. "Social media plays a huge role in our mental state," he says of his generation and this overall period. "I believe that it [has] an effect on all aspects of our lives."
Dunbar's latest track arrives on the heels of "love, and the lack thereof," another pop-inflected song about isolation, and both will appear on his forthcoming evil twin EP, coming February 2021. It's all the product of a long, strange year of creating music in lockdown, according to Dunbar, who says "intimate moments" was written while quarantining.
"intimate moments," which notably features co-writing credits from Noah Cyrus, sees Dunbar wrestling head-on with trust. The singer says he was inspired by "all of the experiences I've had in life where people [who] were supposed to be trustworthy had broken my trust, leaving me with trust issues."
This isn't limited exclusively to love, though. "The 'fear of intimacy' I struggle with isn't 100% in regards to romantic situations," Dunbar clarifies. "Rather, it's with all the relationships in my life. It comes from certain needs that weren't met from my childhood and those who I loved breaking my trust."
In the "intimate moments" visualizer, Dunbar dances wildly with of a series of projections unfolding behind him. "I hate the fact that I look weak," he sings, kneeling alone with keyhole imagery flashing on the wall, as his video builds into a massive release. "And I might cry, but I'll never show it," he sings, thrashing with confidence. "Can't let you down, can't let you down."
For Dunbar, making honest, walls-down songs like "intimate moments" is a therapeutic experience. "I get to connect to others," he continues, "and the music has potential to aid in listeners' healing processes."
Watch the PAPER premiere of "intimate moments" and stream Isaac Dunbar's new single, below.
Photo courtesy of Harshvardhan Shah
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