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

November 19, 2025

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 announces 'I Don't Know' single & London headliner show The former Island Records outfit now bridges generations

October 7, 2025

NYC-based 2000s x-Island Records innovators Laptop return with "I Don't Know", the third single from their forthcoming album "On This Planet" (out spring 2026). Following the viral momentum of their topical, TikTok-fueled singles “Weirder” and "Additional Animals", the band delivers a sharp back-to-school anthem laced with trademark deadpan wit. Balancing childlike defiance with Orwellian unease, “I Don’t Know” doubles as personal history and protest in these authoritarian times. Both playful and unsettling, it’s another strange dispatch from life on this planet.

Laptop emerged in the early 2000s on Island Records with the cult classic albums "Opening Credits", "The Old Me vs The New You" and "Don’t Try This at Home" earning praise from NME, The Guardian, and others for its stylized blend of synth-pop, irony, and heartbreak. The cult indie project has seen a proverbial reboot as a father-son duo with Jesse Hartman now joined by his 19-year-old son Charlie Hartman. An extension of a classic band, Laptop's witty indie-pop is a logical evolution, presenting a cross-generational blend that is part indie-pop, part satire, part family therapy session.

Written years ago by Jesse Hartman and his then four-year-old after Charlie gleefully sabotaged his first standardized test, this song channels the spirit of rebellion, absurdity, and questioning authority. As the chorus shrugs: “I don’t know, I’m just a kid — thinking about silly stuff.” You can even hear 4-year-old Charlie during the intro and outro, as he and dad wrote this crazy song.

“This song has always cracked me up — Charlie was four when we came up with it, after taking an IQ test. We knew he was a child genius (for real), but he failed this test, gleefully answering every question with purposeful wrong answers or a plain "I don’t know". The song stuck with us all these years because it felt bigger: a child’s joke that is really a protest anthem. And boy, do we need a protest anthem right now. It’s rebellion by accident, which turns out to be the perfect kind,” says Jesse Hartman.

Originally tracked in Valencia, Spain during a chaotic family trip, it was later overdubbed in Nevis, in the Caribbean, before being finalized back home in New York City. Its cinematic cast includes Nevis vocalist Anna Hadeed, whose playful lines spar with Jesse and Charlie; Hartman’s daughter Lulu, standing in for young Charlie with echoes of the song’s origin; and a raw, soulful harmonica turn from Santo Fazio—an actor and longtime Hartman muse, now lending a theatrical edge to Laptop’s sound.

The video, directed by Jesse, was filmed at Bravo Studios in New York. It reimagines a classroom as a surreal stage: Jesse and Charlie at school desks, Korina Deming as the stern teacher (and also choreographer), and Stephanie Koffroth as “Lulu”. Shot against a green screen and punctuated with animated detours (based on the brilliant animation on “Weirder”), toy harmonicas, and absurdist deadpan, the origin story is transformed into a playful, cinematic echo of the song’s fever dream.

Prior to Laptop, Jesse Hartman got his start as a teenage Voidoid with Richard Hellbefore co-founding the indie rock band Sammy (with Luke Wood, later President of Beats by Dre) and releasing albums on Fire Records and Geffen Records. Known for his dry humor and cinematic aesthetic, Hartman was once described by The Guardianas the master of “insincere sincerity.”

Laptop’s reboot has already amassed millions of streams and views worldwide for“Weirder” (4M+ views), mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Julian Lennon), and "Additional Animals" (2M+ views) with Britain's Radio 6 and Radio X also lending strong support.

Laptop recently staged an epic return to New York live performance with a 14-piece band at Sony Hall — their first hometown show in two decades. This Stop Making Sense–like spectacle underscores the scale and ambition of Laptop’s reboot, setting the stage for their October 20 headliner show in London at The Waiting Room with support by Room Service.

“I Don't Know” is available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The full album "On This Planet" is forthcoming in Spring 2026.

CREDITS
Jesse Hartman - vocals, guitars, keyboards, synths, piano, bass, percussion
Charlie Hartman - vocals
Lulu Hartman – vocals
Anna Heddad - vocals
Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson - vocals
Mike Desmarais - drums
Lluisen Capafons – drums, congas, additional percussion
Santo Fazio – Harmonica
Matthew Dakoutro – violin, viola, cello
Oliver Freiberg - drum programming
Recorded by Iñaki Ariste Aznar (Valencia), Edward Douglas (NYC), Jesse Hartman (NYC/Nevis)
Mixed by Jesse Hartman, Ray Aldaco, Edward Douglas (Final mix by Hartman & Douglas)
Produced by Jesse Hartman
Mastered by Dave Trumfio
Recorded in Valencia (2022), Nevis (2023), Final overdubs & edits in NYC (2023–2025)
Written by Jesse Hartman (BMI)
Published by Exurbia Music, Inc.
Released by Hurricane Cove Records
Video concept, direction, cinematography & editing by Jesse Hartman
Featuring Charlie Hartman, Jesse Hartman, Korina Deming, Stephanie Koffroth
Filmed at Bravo Studios, NYC
Cover artwork by Jesse Hartman & Scott Ratner
Artist photos by Thomas Krause
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

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Alt-pop mavericks Laptop return with "Additional Animals" & NYC show with UK legends Cast

August 29, 2025

Jesse Hartman’s cult electro-pop project Laptop has unleashed "Additional Animals" — a darkly funny alt-disco track about extinction, meat, and the absurd human urge for more. It’s the second single from "On This Planet", an album co-written and performed with his 19-year-old son Charlie Hartman.

Laptop also performs on September 3rd at NYC's Sony Hall in support of this and earlier single “Weirder” (which went viral with 4M+ views and counting), mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Laurie Anderson, Julian Lennon). This is the band's first New York show in 20 years, opening for British indie-rock legends Cast, whose members draw from The La's and Shack. “Additional Animals” emerges with a Stop Making Sense-esque 13-piece “band of Animals”, uniting members from London with family talent (including acclaimed artists Odetta Hartman and Camellia Hartman) and guests from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway phenomenon "Freestyle Love Supreme" and Denise Gordon of Nevis, whose voice shines across the coming album "On This Planet", spotlighting the project’s Caribbean influences.

Now based in New York, Laptop originally emerged in the early 2000s on Island Records with three legendary cult classic albums — "Opening Credits", "The Old Me vs The New You" and "Don’t Try This at Home" — earning praise from NME, The Guardian, and others for its stylized blend of synth-pop, irony, and heartbreak. Now they've rebooted the Laptop aesthetic — part indie-pop, part satire, part family therapy session.

“Additional Animals” is as much about appetite as it is about climate anxiety, blending shimmering synths, mandolin and Mediterranean horns. An extension of classic Laptop, this witty indie-pop is a logical evolution for the band, presenting a cross-generational blend of dry wit, anxiety and synth-driven swagger.

"This song is about the human appetite — for meat, for more, for everything — and how that hunger’s eating us alive. It’s a song about extinction that you can dance to. The lyrics are a little more connected to the moment than usual for me — our failing planet, our endless consumption — but it’s still wrapped in this shimmering, international pop packaging," says Jesse Hartman.

“We tracked the song in hip Valencia, added harmonies and Caribbean instruments in Nevis, and finished it in our hood in New York. It’s a global pop fever dream about survival, meat, and the slightly hilarious fact that humans always want just a little more."

The video, directed and shot by filmmaker Jesse, was filmed during a surreal family summer in Valencia and features Jesse, Charlie and Jesse’s daughter Lulu, along with rooftop horn solos, fishing boats, flamenco parades, aquariums, and sun-drenched chaos — part European art film, part alternate-universe vacation video. Jesse shares, “It stars me, my kids, our percussionist Mike (who used to play with Brian Eno), and our Nevis family singer Denise. It’s chaotic and colorful and oddly hopeful — like maybe we’re not the last animals standing.”

Before Laptop, Jesse Hartman got his start as a teenage Voidoid with Richard Hell before he co-founded the indie rock band Sammy (with Luke Wood, later President of Beats by Dre), releasing albums on Fire Records and Geffen Records. Known for his dry humor and cinematic aesthetic, Hartman was once described by The Guardian as the master of “insincere sincerity.” Now joined by his son Charlie, a multi-instrumentalist and co-writer, he brings that same emotional contrast into a new era — with Laptop’s blend of deadpan pop and wide-eyed dread more relevant than ever.

With a London show coming in October and a full album on the way in the Spring of 2026, Laptop’s return is both a throwback and a reinvention — legacy pop for a collapsing planet.

“Additional Animals” is out now, available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The full album "On This Planet" arrives in Spring 2026. Tickets for the Cast + Laptop show at Sony Hall are available now.

CREDITS
Jesse Hartman - vocals, guitars, keyboards, synths, piano, bass, percussion
Charlie Hartman - vocals
Lulu Hartman - vocals
Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson - vocals
Denise Gordon - vocals
Frank and Snowflake - vocals, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar
Mike Desmarais - drums
Lluisen Capafons - congas, additional percussion
Dima Faustov - saxophone
Lev Borovskiy - trumpet, trombone
Oliver Freiberg - drum programming
Recorded by Iñaki Ariste Aznar (Valencia), Edward Douglas (NYC), Jesse Hartman (NYC/Nevis)
Mixed by Jesse Hartman, Ray Aldaco, Edward Douglas, Nicholas Vernhes
(Final mix by Jesse Hartman and Edward Douglas)
Produced by Jesse Hartman
Mastered by Dave Trumfio
Recorded in Valencia, Spain (Summer 2022), Additional sessions in Nevis (February 2023), Final overdubs and edits in New York City (2023–2025)
Written by Jesse Hartman (BMI)
Published by Exurbia Music, Inc. (dba Yodel Productions, Inc.)
Released by Hurricane Cove Records
Video concept, direction, cinematography & editing by Jesse Hartman.
Featuring Charlie Hartman, Jesse Hartman, Lulu Hartman, Mike Desmarais, and Denise Gordon.
Shot on location in Valencia, Spain
Cover artwork by Jesse Hartman & Scott Ratner
Artist photos by Thomas Krause
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

Keep up with Laptop
Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok | Spotify | Apple Music | Press contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR
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From Island Records to "Additional Animals": New LAPTOP single tackles the human condition

August 8, 2025

Jesse Hartman’s cult electro-pop project Laptop returns with "Additional Animals" — a darkly funny alt-disco track about extinction, meat, and the absurd human urge for more. It’s the second single from "On This Planet", an album co-written and performed with his 19-year-old son Charlie Hartman.

Now based in New York, Laptop originally emerged in the early 2000s on Island Records with three legendary cult classic albums — "Opening Credits", "The Old Me vs The New You" and "Don’t Try This at Home" — earning praise from NME, The Guardian, and others for its stylized blend of synth-pop, irony, and heartbreak.

After going viral on TikTok with their first single “Weirder” (4M+ views and counting), mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Laurie Anderson, Julian Lennon), the duo continues their reboot of the Laptop aesthetic — part indie-pop, part satire, part family therapy session.

“Additional Animals” is as much about appetite as it is about climate anxiety, blending shimmering synths, mandolin and Mediterranean horns. An extension of classic Laptop, this witty indie-pop is a logical evolution for the band, presenting a cross-generational blend of dry wit, anxiety and synth-driven swagger.

"This song is about the human appetite — for meat, for more, for everything — and how that hunger’s eating us alive. It’s a song about extinction that you can dance to. The lyrics are a little more connected to the moment than usual for me — our failing planet, our endless consumption — but it’s still wrapped in this shimmering, international pop packaging," says Jesse Hartman.

“We tracked the song in hip Valencia, added harmonies and Caribbean instruments in Nevis, and finished it in our hood in New York. It’s a global pop fever dream about survival, meat, and the slightly hilarious fact that humans always want just a little more."

The video, directed and shot by filmmaker Jesse, was filmed during a surreal family summer in Valencia and features Jesse, Charlie and Jesse’s daughter Lulu, along with rooftop horn solos, fishing boats, flamenco parades, aquariums, and sun-drenched chaos — part European art film, part alternate-universe vacation video.

Jesse shares, “It stars me, my kids, our percussionist Mike (who used to play with Brian Eno), and our Nevis family singer Denise. It’s chaotic and colorful and oddly hopeful — like maybe we’re not the last animals standing.”

Before Laptop, Jesse Hartman got his start as a teenage Voidoid with Richard Hellbefore he co-founded the indie rock band Sammy (with Luke Wood, later President of Beats by Dre), releasing albums on Fire Records and Geffen Records. Known for his dry humor and cinematic aesthetic, Hartman was once described by The Guardian as the master of “insincere sincerity.” Now joined by his son Charlie, a multi-instrumentalist and co-writer, he brings that same emotional contrast into a new era — with Laptop’s blend of deadpan pop and wide-eyed dread more relevant than ever.

With a London show coming in October and a full album on the way in the Spring of 2026, Laptop’s return is both a throwback and a reinvention — legacy pop for a collapsing planet.

“Additional Animals” is out August 8 on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The full album "On This Planet" arrives in Spring 2026.