HARMLESS to Share Bilingual New Track 'What U Want'

Tomorrow, gold-selling bedroom pop artist Harmless, aka Los Angeles-based, Mexico City-born songwriter/producer Nacho Cano, will share his bilingual single, “What U Want.”

He adds, “It was heavily inspired by many of the meetings I had with major labels after Swing Lynn’s viral success. In this song, I am trying to tell myself about these meetings and how label after label turned us down for being a “non-urban Latin” act they felt they couldn’t market. The song is basically playing a joke on all of those meetings and how they made me feel. The lyrics, the tone, the sound, all of it is in an effort to give those major labels what they wanted but can’t have anymore.” The track was produced by Yves Rothman at the iconic Sunset Sound.

The visualizer is a throwback for Cano that, while fun, also pictures him at a time in his life before a tragic accident forever changed it. He explains, “It is clips from a video I made my girlfriend in high school. Every month we were together, I would make her a personal video. That month I decided to do... a dance.”

“What U Want” follows the April single, “As I Lay Chillin,” which tackles life in America as an immigrant and as a person disabled by a crime. They were both written in his small office-turned-home studio in Silverlake while reconciling with how his life has changed after he was almost killed by a drunk driver in a hit-and-run accident.

Harmless is a colorful mix of emotions woven seamlessly with bright electronic synths, smooth vocals, and the occasional playful saxophone. He used hip-hop to expand his English when he immigrated to San Diego at ten years old.

Eventually, after moving to Los Angeles to study film in college, he realized music was the passion he wanted to pursue full-time. Since then, he has released musical projects under Twin Cabins, Canito, and now, Harmless.

In 2019 his 2012 track, “Swing Lynn,” recorded originally as Twin Cabins, started to gain new momentum on TikTok and has not stopped growing since, amassing over 300 million streams and becoming certified gold in the U.S. He wrapped up a sold-out U.S. tour with Australian indie band Vacations last year and has opened for other artists like Wavves and SadGirl.