Reptile Room’s Freshest Electro-Pop Ballad Jade, To Great Acclaim

Reptile Room’s newest electro-pop album Jade, released last month on August 9th, fulfills the anticipation set forth by their most recent series of stand-alone singles and music videos. Since forming in 2017, the collaboration between Bill Zimmerman and brother-sister pair Sean and Sami Michelsen hit the ground running, releasing a self-titled EP listed as one of Creative Loafing’s “25 Atlanta Summer Jams,” receiving nominations for Atlanta Culture Awards, collaborating with Italian DJ and producer ASCO, and signing with San Francisco’s indie Om Records to boot.

Lead vocalist Sami Michelsen describes the way the trio came together, relating, “Sean, Bill, and I first started playing music together while we were all pretty young. We actually started our very first band together while we were in middle school. All three of us explored quite a few different musical outlets and projects over the years, and then, in 2017, we decided to get back together and create something fresh from our experiences…that became Reptile Room.”

For their debut full-length work, the trio have continued their commitment to operating as a collective throughout the entirety of their in-house creation process, through writing, recording, designing art, and editing other creative content like photos and videos.

The group utilizes their time apart and different perspectives to push boundaries and incorporate more variety within the sometimes-rigid world of pop. Michelson illustrates, “We started Reptile Room as an experiment at first. Like I mentioned, we had all been in various ensembles over the years, working on multiple projects with other people, so we wanted to see what we would create together after all of that. Everything came around full circle…Every individual brings their own special magic to the mix of the group, and it’s very cool to get to share that experience with anyone, but it’s especially magical to share it with someone you’ve known your entire life.”

Their music videos for “Design,” “Control,” and “Games” reflect this captivating synthesis of ideas, incorporating a kaleidoscope of disjointed loops, shots in unbroken slow motion, and mesmerizing surges of colorful lighting. The merging of their influences— Imogen Heap, Jeff Buckley, The Killers, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Lana Del Rey, and Billie Eilish— becomes evident as well in their blending of stylings within their reverb-soaked melodies.

The Atlanta natives also frequently point to the impact their hometown has had on them, having started out their career on its Georgian music circuit, with a recent appearance at the Athens Festival of Sisterhood. Michelson shares, “We want to help put Atlanta on the map for electronic pop music! We are proud to be here and will always be influenced by the A. It’s a very diverse music scene that offers a lot of sounds and inspirations. My musical endeavors in ATL, both ups and downs, have shaped me into the artist I am today.”

Though still in their infancy as a group, Reptile Room has garnered attention from MTV, E!, and Red Bull. With Jade making the ranks of many up-and-coming release lists including Consequence of Sound and Uproxx, the group is working to follow in the wake of their online acclaim with much more, as Michelson hints, “We have a lot in the works for this year. Exciting news, music, videos, and shows will be announced very soon.”