Cafuné, Crushed

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Akram Shah

A close-up of Cafuné in front of tall buildings.

Cafuné

media release: Up next from their forthcoming album Bite Reality, multi-Platinum duo Cafuné today release the record’s second single “Attack + Release.” The overcast, sultry ballad sees the band allowing the weight of their subconscious float to the surface, with contributions from percussionist Connor Parks and saxophonist Alfredo Colón. 

Diving into their new release, Cafuné shared, “This song is about a crisis of faith; how people can lose their sense of self and belief in each other. Reject the cycle of cynicism because life is always a cycle of ebb and flow, here and gone, attack and release.”

Written and produced by band members Noah Yoo and Sedona Schat, Bite Reality will arrive on September 12 via SoundOn. As the New York duo stare head-on into a world of digital degradation, they ask what humanity looks like in an era increasingly defined by AI, algorithms, and artificial intimacy. They’re no longer running from the bite of reality, but biting reality back; their lyrics teem with brutal honesty, not avoidant analogy.

At the end of May, the band released the album’s thematic centerpiece, the single and video “e-Asphyxiation.” The guitar-driven electro-pop track confronts the cyberpunk conceit of “high-tech low-life” — the difficult task of remaining human in the dehumanizing world we have built. In the first few weeks, the single received over 600k streams, was used in almost 4k TikTok videos that pulled in 40 million views, was spun on BBC Radio 1's Future Artists and much more.

Cafuné's 3X Platinum song "Tek It" surpassed 1 billion streams in part due to its cultural moment on TikTok, making SoundOn a fitting release partner for the band's new music about the pitfalls of the internet. Since 2022, the song has received its own Fortnite emote, and was sampled in Lil Uzi Vert’s single “Red Moon.” After their journey the last ten years, Cafuné are prepared to face themselves, the world around them, and bite back.

Following the announcement of their debut album no scope, which will arrive on September 26 via Ghostly International, crushed share the new offering from the project with “cwtch.” The new single is swirling with synths and emotional lyrics vocalized by Shaun Durkan with harmonies from vocalist Bre Morell. “cwtch” is the second taste of no scope following the duo’s lead single “starburn,” which arrived with a video directed by Luke Orlando and was highlighted by The New York Times, Stereogum, Alternative Press, Pitchfork and more. crushed also recently stopped by The Lot Radio for a guest DJ session. 

Speaking about the new single, Durkan shares, “‘Cwtch’ is a Welsh word meaning an embrace with a sense of offering warmth and safety, a safe place. I wrote the song during a period where I was really struggling to ‘live life on life’s terms.’ A time when learning new ways of coping with difficult feelings felt like an enormous challenge, and returning to self destruction sounded like returning home."

This September and October, crushed will join Cafuné on their North American tour for a run of 19 shows with performances in Washington, D.C., Montreal, Chicago, Denver, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Brooklyn, and more.

Recording out of various homes, not fixed to any single location (Morell from Texas, now based in Los Angeles, and Durkan in Portland, Oregon), crushed write the songs they want to hear, tuning from shared taste for trip-hop, Britpop, electronica, and the canon of '90s alt radio, a desire for emotionality, and an instinct for when it sounds right and honest; when it means something real to them. no scope embodies Morell and Durkan’s trust in one another and in their craft. A "no scope" kill in the video game lexicon is achieved by shooting a sniper rifle at close range without scoping in on your target, an apt metaphor for two artists following their pop impulses, shooting from the hip with precision. On the triumphant no scope, crushed take life's best shots with their strongest work, wielding melodic, open-hearted hooks through a maze of breakbeats and spliced sound design with unprecedented immediacy and clarity. Next level, unlocked.

no scope follows extra life, the 2023 EP and debut collaboration between Morell, who also fronts the band Temple of Angels (Run For Cover Records), and Durkan, who has produced for others (Topographies, Young Prisms) following the 2010s run of his former band Weekend (Slumberland Records). Their first batch of songs together saw a groundswell of support, finding early fans in Pitchfork, NPR, and Ghostly International, who signed the band and gave extra life a wider physical release in 2024. extra life is home to the tracks “waterlily,” which received a remix from Real Lies, and “milksugar,” which received a remix from DJ Python last year. crushed capped the year with their first-ever shows in the UK, and tested new material and live arrangements in early 2025 as the album was finalized.

Written throughout the slow-simmering breakout, no scope finds the band driven to refocus, refine, and level up, to deliver on extra life's promise. Morell and Durkan started songs remotely, then alternated sessions between their living spaces and co-producer/mixer Jorge Elbrecht's house, a first for them after exclusively self-producing. Elbrecht brought his accomplished ear for melody and structure (credits include Japanese Breakfast, Hatchie, and Weyes Blood), helping them narrow down dozens of demos. More a culmination than a debut, no scope feels refreshingly unguarded and fine-tuned, a modern work from two artists coursing the crosshairs of life in real-time.