NYC alternative pop outfit Laptop presents their new single “Confused” — the emotional and thematic center of their forthcoming album "On This Planet" and their most definitive song to date. Written in response to January 6 (now the 5th anniversary), the track captures the psychological whiplash of watching democratic reality fracture in real time, filtered through the perspective of a man glued to the news, overwhelmed by noise, grievance, spectacle, and historical déjà vu.
Formed in the late ’90s, Laptop released three albums with Island Records with praise from the NME, The Guardian and others for their stylized blend of synth-pop & irony. Now a multi-generational project with Jesse Hartman joined by his son Charlie Hartman, they are not observing the present from a distance. “Confused” is the sound of living inside it — aware of history, aware of danger, and quietly aware that even the people telling us what’s happening may not know what to believe themselves. Yet for all its tension, “Confused” is not humorless. Like much of Laptop’s work, the song is threaded with a dry, unsettling irony — the kind that emerges when reality itself starts to feel absurd.
“‘Confused’ came from the shock of watching January 6 unfold on TV — but the really twisted part is that we’d been in D.C. two days earlier, visiting family, cluelessly being tourists, while staying at the hotel where the lead insurrectionists were actually meeting. We had no idea. But the city felt off — weirdly quiet, strange characters everywhere — like the ’70s version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". MAGA evangelicals blowing Jewish shofars, that kind of bizarro-ness," says Jesse Hartman.
"Then we went back to New York, life felt normal again for a moment,, and then a day later we were watching the least normal thing I’ve ever seen unfold. The whole family was completely freaked out, especially Lulu. (“Daddy was confused…Now, he’s flown the coop” – or is it coup? - recalling the ghostly children’s chorus of "Another Brick in the Wall”). Once the song got going, it felt obvious she had to be part of it.”
That generational perspective extends to the artwork. The cover image — a stark, almost African-influenced child’s face — was painted by Lulu herself. Rendered with raw simplicity and quiet distress, the image feels ancient and immediate at once. Lulu belongs to a generation that has grown up with Trump, COVID, lockdowns, and permanent crisis — for whom confusion isn’t a moment, but a condition. Like her voice in the track, the artwork doesn’t explain anything. It watches.
Musically, "Confused" is hypnotic and rhythm-driven, built on a circular, Afro-influenced groove that recalls Fela Kuti’s forward momentum filtered through the nervous minimalism of Talking Heads’ "Remain in Light” era. The track accumulates tension rather than releasing it. It openly channels the philosophy ofCompass Point Studios— rhythm as infrastructure, voices as texture, politics embedded in groove rather than announcement. The song keeps moving, even as clarity collapses. And like the other“On This Planet”album tracks, “Confused” was written and produced by Jesse Hartman, which was tracked in Valencia and overdubbed in Nevis, a place the band came to call the inspiration island.
Pushing the song’s themes into visual satire, the music video is framed as a CNN-style news broadcast, withJesse Hartman as the anchor — calm, youthful, and unsettlingly composed — delivering chaos with the authority of media normalcy.Denise Gordon andGeddys “Ch4se” Fergusonappear as correspondents reporting from distant, vaguely defined locations, their dispatches fragmented and contradictory.Jesse Hartmanhovers as an ambiguous figure — part tyrant, part media creation, part projection — never clarified, never resolved. The result isn’t parody so much as a wry, uncomfortable mirror: a world where information, performance, and power blur until belief itself feels optional.
n 2025, Laptop released several singles - "Indie Hero", "Additional Animals", "I Don't Know", and “Weirder”, mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Julian Lennon), in addition to a Tom Waits holiday cover, collectively drawing millions of views and reintroducing Laptop’s postmodern humor to a new generation.
“Confused” is out on January 23 via Hurricane Cove Records, available on streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The much-anticipated "On This Planet" album will be released in Spring 2026.
CREDITS
Written by: Jesse Hartman
Published by: Exurbia Music, Inc. (BMI)
Produced by: Jesse Hartman
Jesse Hartman — vocals, guitars, keys, synths, piano, bass, drum machine, percussion
Charlie Hartman — vocals
Marlena “Lulu” Hartman — vocals, synth
Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson — vocals
Denise Gordon — vocals
Mike Desmarais — drums
Ben Jones — piano
Bruce Irvine (aka The Black Panther) — slide guitar
Lluísen Capafons — conga, percussion
Lee Sullivan — saxophone
Matthew Dakoutro — cello, viola, violin
Siuxx — keys, synths
Engineered by Iñaki Ariste Aznar, Edward Douglas, Jesse Hartman
Mixed by Ray Aldaco, Nicholas Vernhes, Edward Douglas, Jesse Hartman
Mastered by Dave Trumfio
Artwork Painting by Marlena “Lulu” Hartman, Design by Jesse Hartman & Scott Ratner
UPC/EAN 5063858817812
City photos by Tommy Krause. Other photos by Emmanuel Abreau
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
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