Burgeoning indie-pop group late night drive home explore the dangers of the internet in “terabyte”

A bright synth bubbles under the surface of singer Andre Portillo’s confident vocal line at the start of the track, singing of sweet nothings. Driving drums and bass come in to meet him, adding soft, jangly layers to the song. The simple combination brings an ironically sweet tone to the single, putting a spin on a heavy topic with its romantic indie pop tones. Gradually, it spins into an atmosphere of glitchy, layered synths and harmonies. “I don’t know her but I love her,” Portillo sings as “terabyte” fades out.

“terabyte” is about the harm young people face from developing an addiction to adult content. Rather than simply running from this type of entertainment, the band finds themselves drawn to it as the internet continues to spawn more. They know they’ve got to cut themselves off, swapping make-believe intimacy for reality, but it’s difficult to do that in a detached world. Everyone just turns back to their phones, believing it’s the only option.

“A lonely creature searches for love and yearns to be understood in and at every corner of his world,” Portillo says about the single. “Two different people exist on each side of the screens, both trying to live in this modern world.”

Hailing from blue collar towns in Texas and New Mexico, late night drive home formed in an effort to escape the slow days of rural living. Consisting of singer Andre Portillo, guitarist Juan Vargas, drummer Brian Dolan, and bassist Freddy Baca, now they’ve gone from desert towns to the stages of massive festivals around the nation from Coachella to Shaky Knees.

The release of “terabyte” coincides with the announcement of the group’s debut album as I watch my life online, out on June 27th via Epitaph. Expounding on the topics of their new single, the project will explore the confusing reality of growing up in the age of the internet. Whether mixing up online connections for something real, to the destruction of self-worth in an endless stream of self-exploitation, there’s a lot the group will unpack here.

“The record is a critique and a meta representation of the current online landscape: a whole new world or giant united country that connects us between cities, forcing us to be online,” says Vargas. “It shows the listener how we grew up in the early days of peak internet — how we saw it all unfold. We want to give our perspective on the internet while creating art alongside it.”