A mysterious electronic-alt-pop band called Purple Tears — backed by a “familiar” artist — just dropped a track on Warner Records on Friday. The band released their debut single “Work It Out” with a verse by Swae Lee and a song written by Adam Levine. But is the lead singer of the group Levine himself?
The track hears the mystery vocalist singing about a past love and fighting for forgiveness over slow, electronic sounds. “I want you to stay every night and every day because I need you now,” the voice cries. “But you’re already leaving.”
It is unclear who the artist behind the project is, although the source says A rolling stone that the Grammy winner is responsible. “Purple Tears has a well-known, Grammy-winning artist behind it,” the source said. “They have been successful as part of a group and in collaboration with other industry icons.”
The source referred to “Easter eggs that hinted at their identity” in the song’s kaleidoscopic, trippy visual and the group’s social media.
Although the images in the “Work It Out” video are distorted, the video shows what appears to be the eyes and lips of the same man. The eyes look somewhat like Levine’s, and the vocals, although under the distortion of the voice, also sound reminiscent of Levine. (The singer seems to fit the source description, as he is the frontman of Maroon 5 and has won three Grammys with the band.)
Adding to the speculation surrounding Levine, A rolling stone confirmed that Six5 Productions, the company owned by producer Jason Evigan, who wrote and produced some of Maroon 5’s hits, including “Girls Like You” with Cardi B and “Girls Like You,” has filed for the trademark Purple Tears What Lovers do” with SZA.
A Warner Records press release described Purple Tears as a “groundbreaking artist project featuring critically acclaimed industry veterans” and credited Levine as a member of the song’s “all-star lineup of songwriters”. The visualization also mentioned Day One Entertainment at the end of the visualization. Its Instagram account follows Warner Music Group employees, which the label announced earlier this week.
“In a world suffering from online oversharing, Purple Tears is doing something different and bold that enables music, messaging and creativity remain at the forefront of conversation,” the release said.
The band also shared a whirlwind statement about the debut track. “It’s a song that has always felt; but the courage was never there to write it before,” Purple Tears said. “If it had come sooner, maybe he’d still be here.”