Droid Metal is the latest incarnation of Giuliano Pizzulo, a name that may already ring bells for those tuned into the shifting plates of indie rock and electronic pop. Best known as a member of LA’s Incan Abraham — a band once praised by Pitchfork, Spin, and NPR for their dream-bent psychedelia — Pizzulo has spent the better part of a decade operating behind the curtain of some of pop’s biggest stages, lending his musicianship to global tours with Lorde, Childish Gambino, and Passion Pit.

Now, stepping firmly into the spotlight, Pizzulo re-emerges as Droid Metal: a solo project that splices the pixelated ghosts of 90s rave culture with a yearning, flesh-and-blood pop sensibility. The debut single, “Pleather” is a sensory collision course, all sharp angles, shadowy grooves, and whispered desires. It sounds like it was made for the last dance at a cyberpunk discotheque, caught somewhere between the club and the confession booth.

There’s a thrilling, dangerous energy pulsing through “Pleather”. Born, as Pizzulo puts it, from “a dance with a dangerous muse,” the track feels like a descent, seductive, illicit, and entirely self-aware. Industrial synths lurch and grind over breakbeats that recall the chaotic beauty of early jungle and hardcore, while his pop vocal — elastic, soulful, and tinged with a Prince-like falsetto — threads it all together with unsettling ease.

It’s hard not to hear echoes of George Michael’s brooding charisma or Trent Reznor’s mechanical sensuality in Pizzulo’s delivery. But Droid Metal is more than homage. It’s a haunted love letter to the future that never was, written with one foot on the dancefloor and the other in the gutter.