RIOT SON pushes the pulse with new single 'What Makes You Think'

There’s a certain electricity that runs through 'What Makes You Think', the kind that feels like a streetlight flickering above an empty road at 2AM. It’s restless, charged, and emotionally loaded, capturing RIOT SON at a moment where uncertainty and desire collide in a thrilling, slightly dangerous way. This is a statement of intent from an artist learning how to turn inner chaos into something that crackles with life.

From the first beat, the track moves with nervous momentum. The rhythm section surges forward like a racing heart, while chiming guitars and shadowy textures swirl around it, creating a soundscape that feels both nostalgic and urgent. There’s a sharpness here that mirrors the emotional push and pull at the centre of the song. You can hear the influence of decades past woven into its DNA, but it never feels like a throwback. Instead, it’s as if those older ghosts have been dragged into the present, given new breath and a more jagged edge.

RIOT SON’s vocal performance is where the song truly finds its soul. He moves between vulnerability and defiance with a natural ease, his voice hovering just on the brink of breaking before pulling itself back together. It’s that fragility that makes the track hit so hard. There’s bitterness, longing, and a bruised kind of hope tangled up in his delivery, giving the song an emotional weight that lingers long after it fades out.

What’s especially striking is how cinematic the whole thing feels. You can almost see the headlights cutting through mist, autumn leaves skidding across pavement, and the memories looping in the back of your mind as you try to figure out where things went wrong. The production, shaped in close collaboration with Manget$u, balances polish with grit, allowing the track to feel expansive without losing its raw, human core.

As a centrepiece for the forthcoming trio of tracks, 'What Makes You Think' feels like a turning point. It’s bolder, more intense, and more emotionally exposed than anything RIOT SON has released so far. There’s a sense that he’s building a world where heartbreak, doubt, and longing are painted in glowing, nocturnal hues.

In a scene overflowing with retro-leaning acts, RIOT SON manages to carve out something that feels distinctly his own. 'What Makes You Think' is the sound of an artist stepping closer to the edge, because that’s where the view is most honest.