It is so gratifying to find an artist who will not be afraid to merge neuroscience and raw emotion and Exzenya is such an artist. Her most recent single, Regulator of My Dopamine, is a lesson in how to transform scientific ideas into emotional human ones and that smart pop music need not be soulless.
The main metaphor of the song is ingenious in its simplicity: the metaphor of all-consuming love in the context of natural reward system in the brain. However, Exzenya takes this idea a step further, and makes the sonic experience itself reflect the dopamine high she is talking about. The smooth R&B production, over which hypnotic pop hooks and slight world rhythms are layered, is intoxicating and rooted at the same time.
The thing that impresses me the most about this song is that it is so celebratory in an unapologetic way. Within a musical landscape that is largely centered on heartbreak and dysfunction, Exzenya takes the risk to go deeper into healthy, transformative love; the one that is invigorating and not draining. This confidence is reflected in her vocal work, which proceeds through the song with a charismatic flare that evokes the sexy refinement of Sade but still with a very modern twist.
The production work should be specially commended in its discreetness and elegance. Instead of bombarding the listener with all kinds of details, every layer contributes to the emotional flow of the song. The outcome is opulent, yet not messy, contemporary yet not artificial. Her experience in applied behavior analysis gives authenticity to what would otherwise have been a shallow idea and her multicultural experiences endow the track with global sensibilities.
The success of the song Regulator of My Dopamine is that the song does not approach love as a survival tactic but as something to be celebrated. It is a song about everybody that has ever felt that moment of pure joy, when another person becomes your ultimate source of happiness- and Exzenya expresses that sensation in both a scientific and emotional way.
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