It’s not “When Doves Cry” or “Purple Rain,” but Pineo & Loeb’s latest single slides in a subtle ode to Prince, one of their biggest heroes, on “Attached 2 U.” Full of upbeat party vibes and one particularly tasty bassline, while featuring vocals from Viiq and fun riffs from regular collaborator Sparkee, there’s still no question that if this song had an aura it’d be purple.
Speaking of those traditional sources of jams, “Attached 2 U” was conceived in a moment when Pineo & Loeb were listening to—of all things—the radio. When Viiq came on singing “Forever Love” with Bingo Players and Disco Fries the sparks started flying.
“We were immediately hooked by the amazing vocals and uplifting vibes,” says Mitchell Pineo. “We needed to know who was singing the vocals right away so we reached out to Viiq. We sent her a few instrumental demos to see if she would be interested in working on any and she picked out a groovy downtempo tune to record vocals on. When she sent us back what she’d done we were blown away. We took the vocals and rebuilt the track to be more upbeat and centred around a big synth drop.”
Pineo & Loeb almost wouldn’t be Pineo & Loeb though without their regular collaborator Sparkee. He’s been featured on so many of their tracks that he may as well be their third Beatle.
“The track was sounding great but we wanted it to be even funkier so we called up Sparkee, who added his slick guitars and synths throughout, really gluing everything together,” says Pineo, “After painstakingly refining the track to make it hit just right, the end result is ‘Attached 2 U’ and we’re so thrilled with how it’s come together.”
And then there’s that little special something that brings it all together, the extra little touch that says “The Artists Formerly Known as Pineo & Loeb,” the subtle ode to Price found in the song’s title.
“We opted to pick the numeral 2 and the letter U as a reference to Prince who always spelled the words as such and is known for his funky and uplifting pop songs,” says Pineo. “We’re seemingly booked in Minneapolis next year. Gonna go to Prince’s house. I’m gonna cry.”