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Aug 22, 2022 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Zachary Vague

Vancouver-based alt pop artist Titus Bank hit the ground running earlier this summer with his debut EP, Hopeless & Romantic. The record fused elements of folk, pop, indie, and R&B, all while showing off Banks’ talent with sharp hooks and lilting pop balladry. Now, following the record’s release Bank is back with a video for one of the EP’s highlights, “Radio,” premiering with Under the Radar.

With “Radio,” Bank strikes on an uplifting gem of buoyant songwriting and radio-ready hooks, bringing forth an effortless pop charm. It is the kind of track that seems tailor-made for summer, tinged with shimmering guitar melodies, synth earworms, and a giant euphoric ‘80s chorus. But while the track fits perfectly into the mold of a summer radio single, Bank also shows off some clever angles to his songwriting. While dropping references to classic tracks from Prince, Elvis, and Springsteen, Banks traces a love story that’s more awkward, teenage, imperfect, and ultimately more real.

As Banks explains, “I wrote this song with the amazing and talented Jack Newsome while I was away on my first writing trip in LA. This tune ended up being inspired by one lyric that I had written down in my notebook “love is only better on the radio”. We sat there and explored and talked and eventually came up with this concept that the love that can rival mine and my wife’s is only possible in the ideals of songs and artists on the radio. It’s a song about growing up being an awkward kid and how the early stages of my relationship with my now wife were so clammy and classically cringey. I would love to be like the great swooners and songwriters of our time but in reality our love still rivals anything that actually exists in this world and the only love that can come close to our cute little awkward love would be the stuff you hear on the radio. The sound is definitely a new exploration for me as it has a lot of 80’s elements and this sort of age old four on the floor upbeat feel in the chorus.”

Check out the song and its equally colorful new video below. The Hopeless & Romantic EP is out everywhere now.