NYC alternative pop outfit Laptop presents 'Xanadu', the latest offering from their forthcoming album "On This Planet", which starts out sounding like a love song, but slowly reveals itself as something darker. A duet between frontman Jesse Hartman and Nevis vocalist Anna Hadeed, the track explores the American idea of settling down — building a life, owning something permanent — and how that dream can quietly go wrong. It’s less about romance than what happens when good intentions collide with money, power, and the pressure to create something lasting.

Formed in the late ’90s, Laptop released three albums with Island Records, earning praise from NME, The Guardian, and others for their stylized blend of synth-pop, irony, and emotional precision. Now revived as a contemporary project with his son Charlie Hartman, Laptop has become a vehicle for Hartman grappling openly with adulthood in this chaotic world — not as a clean resolution, but as something messier and harder to define. “Xanadu” captures the moment when the art dream runs into the desire for stability, and neither comes out untouched.

The title nods directly to Citizen Kane, where “Xanadu” names Charles Foster Kane’s vast, illusory estate — a symbol of success that ultimately exposes loneliness and regret. Laptop updates the idea for a modern American setting. In this version, Xanadu isn’t a castle; it’s a mid-century dream house, full of hope and expectation, carrying the belief that ownership might finally bring peace. This is love song disguised as a hard look at the pitfalls of American materialism.

Filmed on Oualie Beach in Nevis, where overdubs for Laptop's coming album were recorded, the video juxtaposes Hartman and Hadeed's chilled beachside duet with glossy, candy-colored visual sequences involving a separate couple. Gently mocking the modern semi-colonialist belief that paradise can be packaged, purchased, and controlled, we see a slick couple sail toward their dream, only to see it sink beneath the waters of their own ambitions and end up in flames. Kitschy postcard titles like "The Good Life” and “Live the Romance" punctuate their journey, underscoring the bitter irony of it all.

Jesse Hartman got his start as a Voidoid with Richard Hell, before founding indie rock band Sammy with Luke Wood, and releasing albums via Fire Records and Geffen Records. Since reviving, Laptop is on a roll on the strength of the singles “Indie Hero”, "Confused", "Additional Animals", "I Don't Know" and “Weirder”, mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Julian Lennon), collectively drawing millions of views and reintroducing Laptop's humor and sounds to a new generation.

“Xanadu” will be released via Hurricane Cove Records on February 13, available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. Laptop’s much-anticipated "On This Planet" album will be released on June 5. The band performs next at NYC's Mercury Lounge on April 9, along with UK rockers Art Brut.

Get the single https://ditto.fm/xanadu_995c7dd3
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/7Lrqg7giyk2K8ffCq8P2K8
Bandcamp https://laptoptheband.bandcamp.com/single/xanadu

CREDITS 
Written & produced by Jesse Hartman
Published by: Exurbia Music, Inc. (BMI)
Released by Hurricane Cove Records 
Jesse Hartman — vocals, guitars, keys, synths, piano, bass
Anna Hadeed — vocals
Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson — vocals
Kendelle Thomas - bass
Mike Desmarais — drums
Lluísen Capafons — conga, percussion
Matthew Dakoutro — cello, viola, violin
Siuxx — electric guitar
Artem - horns
Engineered by Iñaki Ariste Aznar, Edward Douglas & Jesse Hartman
Mixed by Edward Douglas & Jesse Hartman
Mastered by Dave Trumfio
Artwork Painting by Jesse Hartman
UPC/EAN 5063904538524
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

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Laptop, the cult NYC project led by Jesse Hartman (formerly with Island Records), continues their cinematic synth pop revival with “Indie Hero”, a wry and wistful love song to the myth of late 20th century cool, but also a hate song about hero worship gone hideously wrong. Anchored by Laptop’s signature mix of cinematic synths, dry wit, and bittersweet reflection, this track opens a new chapter for Hartman, now joined by his son Charlie as co-frontman in this multi-generational pop experiment, with equal parts satire and sincerity. The single previews their forthcoming album "On This Planet", slated for release in Spring 2026 via Hurricane Cove Records.

The details? Hartman isn’t at liberty to say. Well, maybe just a little: As a teenage guitarist, Hartman once toured overseas with one of his idols, watching the myth of cool dissolve in real time. "Indie Hero" captures the moment (during a fateful night in a Tokyo restaurant), when youthful ambition collided with middle-aged madness. The Hartmans sing: “I’ll dive across a table for you, my indie hero, I’m feeling so unstable for you, my indie hero” - half romantic, half tragic, all reckless. Together they go on a dangerous, adolescent journey, both literally and symbolically, repeating in the outro: “I want to go to Japan again.” “Indie Hero” ultimately reflects on fame, failure, and the pursuit of artistic immortality.

Hartman shares, “This is a love letter to the ghosts of the ’90s and their obsession with the ghosts of the late ’70s. All the beautiful people who never quite went the distance. Including me. It’s about idol worship, but also about outgrowing it."

The video, directed by Jesse Hartman, reimagines that journey as a Japanese comic-book fever dream: a young musician chasing his dreams and heroes across neon cities and sake bars, only to discover that the real revelation isn’t fame—it’s self-discovery (and maybe a little heartbreak).

“When I was starting out in the ’90s, I met a lot of my punk and new wave heroes in New York’s East Village. They weren’t always as cool as I thought they’d be. It taught me that sometimes it’s best not to meet your heroes, and better to just become your own," Hartman recalls. “I think the video sketches that coming of age picture in comic-al way”.

Written years ago by Hartman and longtime musical collaborator Luke Wood (from Hartman’s first band Sammy), and recorded this past year between New York, Nevis and Valencia, “Indie Hero” layers drums and machines, horns and synths, shimmering guitars and the Hartmans’ sly vocals into something both nostalgic and immediate, like hearing your favorite 2001 record on a futuristic radio.

Laptop emerged in the early 2000s with three cult classic albums on Island Records, earning praise from NME and The Guardian, who dubbed Hartman the master of “insincere sincerity.” Having got his start as a teenage Voidoid with Richard Hell, Hartman then co-founded the indie rock band Sammy (with Luke Wood, later President of Beats by Dre), releasing albums via Fire Records and Geffen Records.

Since reviving the band, Laptop has released the surreal trilogy "Additional Animals", "I Don't Know", and “Weirder”, mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Julian Lennon), collectively drawing millions of views and reintroducing Laptop’s postmodern humor to a new generation.

Laptop has recently staged an epic return to live performance with a 14-piece band at New York's Sony Hall (their first hometown show in two decades) opening for UK legends Cast, and a headliner show at London's Waiting Room. These Stop Making Sense–like spectacles underscore the scale and ambition of Laptop’s reboot.

As of November 19, “Indie Hero” is available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The full album "On This Planet" will be released in Spring 2026.

CREDITS 
Written by Jesse Hartman and Luke Wood (BMI)  
Published by Exurbia Music, Inc.  
Released by Hurricane Cove Records 
Jesse Hartman – vocals, guitars, keyboards, synths, piano, bass, percussion 
Charlie Hartman – vocals 
Lulu Hartman – vocals
Anna Heddad – vocals 
Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson – vocals
Arthur Lewis – keys, piano, vocals 
Mike Desmarais – drums 
Lluisen Capafons – drums, congas, additional percussion
Dima Faustov – Saxophone
Lev Borovskiy – trumpet and trombone 
Santo Fazio – Harmonica
Oliver Freiberg – drum programming 
Produced by Jesse Hartman 
Recorded by Iñaki Ariste Aznar (Valencia), Edward Douglas (NYC), Jesse Hartman (NYC/Nevis)
Mixed by Jesse Hartman, Ray Aldaco, Edward Douglas (final mix by Jesse Hartman & Edward Douglas) 
Mastered by Dave Trumfio 
Recorded in Valencia, Spain. Additional sessions in Nevis. Final overdubs & edits in NYC
Video concept, direction, cinematography & editing by Jesse Hartman 
Featuring Charlie Hartman, Jesse Hartman & the Laptop band: Santo Fazio, Flynn Mulcahy, Fergus Segrove, Aviv Tal, Odetta Hartman, Camellia Hartman, Denise Gordon, Alex Friedman, Richard Baskin, Brandon Volel & Sam Rowley
Shot at Tall Tree Court and Sony Hall (at a live Laptop show September 3, 2025) 
Cover artwork by Jesse Hartman & Scott Ratner
Artist photos by Thomas Krause
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

NYC's Laptop reveals “Xanadu,” a sun-soaked tale of ambition and the cost of wanting more

NYC's LAPTOP unpacks '90s Fame & Failure on "Indie Hero" with epic video