LOONY is Kira Huszar, a 24-year-old musician from Toronto’s Scarborough neighborhood. Her music plays around with neo-soul, hip-hop, and R&B in an artful, understated fashion that marks her as a sensible tour-mate for Rhye, with whom she’ll be traversing Western Canada in the coming weeks. And today she’s given you a great entry point in the form of new single “Dare You.”

The version of “Dare You” on streaming services features Baton Rouge rapper Quadry, whose voice is absent from the music video. Directed by Kosta Kolev, it features dancers Jade Whitney (who choreographed the clip) and Ken Pham moving expressively to a smoldering constructed groove built from nimble keyboard and heavy bass. It’ll make you want to go back and check out prior single “Tread,” though LOONY and her collaborators see “Dare You” as more of a step toward something new.

Via email, LOONY elaborates, “This song started out sounding completely different than it does now. I actually started writing it for someone else to sing, and then it somehow took on a life of its own. The production started getting eerier, my vocal ideas got weirder, then my lyrics got darker, and all of a sudden it was like ‘yup okay, this is for me now.'” Producer Akeel Henry adds, “I’m excited for ‘Dare You’ because I think it shows a different side of LOONY. It opens others up to a newer sound we’ve been exploring… in a way, this song is really like a bridge for what’s to come.”

Watch the “Dare You” video and check out the Quadry-featuring audio below.

TOUR DATES:
09/15 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick (w/ RHYE)
09/17 – Saskatoon, SK @ Coors Event Centre (w/ RHYE)
09/19 – Calgary, AB @ The Palace Theatre (w/ RHYE)
09/20 – Edmonton, AB @ Myer Horowitz Theatre (w/ RHYE)
09/23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Vogue Theatre (w/ RHYE)
09/24 – Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom (w/ RHYE)

CREDIT: Erin Leydon