LOS ANGELES, CA- Arlie’s new single “provemewrong” arrives like a jolt of raw electricity, the kind that hits your chest before your brain has time to sort out why it feels so good. There is something spiritually joyful woven through the track, even though the lyrics twist around doubt, self interrogation, and the blurry space where faith and frustration share the same room. Arlie, the musical identity of Nathaniel Banks, has seems to have a knack for turning internal noise into something melodic, but this song carries a sense of clarity and lift that feels distinctly new. It is upbeat, punchy, and bursting with a kind of optimism that does not argue with the chaos, but rises through it.
The first moments of the music video underline that tension. It opens with what looks like a 70s style hand drawn blob sitting on a couch, speaking to a kid who is watching television. The character asks why they are still holding back, and whether they have forgotten what has been done to them, warning that people will think they are a monster. Then the track kicks in and the visual drops into a lo fi, MySpace era aesthetic that feels handmade and strangely intimate. The roughness becomes part of the charm. Even though it is technically just a lyric video, it feels like a mission statement for Arlie. It builds an identity around imperfection, sincerity, and emotional directness.
The song itself moves with the same energy. The modulated vocals glide over a tightly arranged instrumental bed that recalls the colorful eccentricity of MGMT. The comparison is spot on. There is a similar sense of psychedelic cheerfulness stitched to an undercurrent of existential questioning. The hook, built around the repetition of “Gonna prove them wrong,” sticks immediately. It feels less like defiance and more like a personal promise. The whole track balances fire starting confidence with a forgiving tone that keeps it from slipping into self righteousness. It sounds like someone trying to grow, stumbling through realizations, but doing it with open hands.
Arlie describes the track as a comeback swing, something brisk and danceable to counter the mid tempo mood of the rest of his upcoming concept album, Someone You Can Believe In. The record stitches songs together with dialogue chapters structured like a radio drama. It tells the story of a man wrestling with heartbreak, belief, and the silence of the Divine in the face of human suffering. In that narrative, “provemewrong” lands right after Arlie has been falsely accused of kidnapping while his manager urges him to flee the state. It becomes a moment of resistance, a spark of conviction that might be angelic or might be chaotic. The ambiguity is part of the design.
The track also reflects Banks’ full circle return to the obsessive, handmade approach that first put him on the map. Fans still point to “big fat mouth” and “didya think,” the early bedroom recordings that circulated around Vanderbilt before landing him a record deal and a run of high profile festival slots. That era of scrappy creativity shaped a wave of collegiate musicians, but it also drew Banks into an industry machine that chipped away at the self trust that had fueled his early work. Multiple A and R voices encouraged doubt, pushed him away from his instincts, and left him in a crisis that took years to rebuild from. Someone You Can Believe In represents that recovery.
“Provemewrong” carries that history lightly, but it is part of why the track feels so alive. There is effortlessness in the way he sings “My whole life happens in my mind,” yet the line lands like someone learning how to accept their own interior world rather than avoid it. The optimism threaded through the song comes from that acceptance. The joy is not blind. It comes from hard won self knowledge, the kind that emerges only after the noise fades and the artist finally hears their own voice again.
Hearing this single makes the December 12 album release feel like an event worth anticipating. Even without having digested the full record, the spirit of “provemewrong” feels like a confident teaser. It is restless, bright, and emotionally curious. If this is the opening handshake to a larger story about belief, identity, and reconnection, then Arlie is stepping into his new chapter with purpose. It is the sound of someone who once lost the thread, found it again, and decided to hold on tighter this time.
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