Ryan Beatty released his second album on Jan. 31, 2020, titled Dreaming of David, only weeks after it was announced. The album has no features and centers around the sweet and clean voice of Ryan Beatty.

While he has been known as a long-time collaborator with BROCKHAMPTON, Beatty’s solo music is not a sound that directly mirrors his work done in the hip-hop group. 

“Dark Circles” is the second track on the album and handles the topic of losing sleep over a lost love. Like many of the tracks from this project, it’s a minimal cut, but has significance in its sounds. Produced by Daniel Fox and Austin Anderson, the track deals with difficulty sleeping due to the thought of a love interest that is no longer with Beatty.

The first part of the song features plunky, electronic notes that play over the melody,  accompanying Beatty’s voice. They sound exactly like what losing sleep would feel like, as the notes are difficult to ignore and stick out with your first listen of the track. The lyrics are very personal, with Beatty writing about how his inability to stop thinking about this past lover and wondering about who they are thinking about now.

After the first few verses, the song builds to a small beat drop and then speeds up considerably with a driving beat over more drums and warping synths. They compliment Beatty’s voice well and serve as a release to the tension he’s been feeling while thinking about this guy. It’s as if he finally gets up from bed, gives up on trying to sleep and lets all of his emotions out in the chorus.

In the chorus, he sings about not being strong enough to live without this man and how he feels about love when he used to be with him: “I don’t have the bones to be free / I believe in love when he / Confesses himself inside me.”

The rest of the song continues with this sound as he repeats the chorus several times, possibly talking himself in circles in the middle of the night.

Ryan Beatty does an incredible job on the track and if you’re into sugary, electronic pop music, this is for you.

Ryan Beatty’s new album, Dreaming of David, is available on streaming services now.