MR. Slade Asks You To “Call Me’ Like Blondie Did All Those Years Ago

The lights are low, the club is high on pulsating dance floor vibes and human electricity. From the speakers, a familiar synth beat strikes. You’re beckoned to the dance floor. Called.

MR. Slade breathes a new technobeat into the longing plea made famous by Debbie Harry and Blondie. “Call Me” is streaming now.

“I chose ‘Call Me’ as a cover song, not only am I a huge Blondie fan, but I thought a song about male sex workers could have a slightly grittier, rougher feel to it,” says MR. Slade, adding: “Exploring and clashing with sounds that were either feminine and/or masculine together. When I write or compose music, I’m more visual than anything else. I wanted the song to sound like it was being blasted out of someone’s car while parked at the pier in NYC circa the 80’s. A bit dangerous in feel but with a cheeky nod and wink and an homage to idea that sex can connect us in this sometimes-cold isolated world. Dirty without the shame.”

Not only did Blondie concoct a tumbler of desperately beautiful disco, and new-wave beats blending into a cocktail of need and want, MR. Slade has harnessed where these 80s icons lead and pointed the song in a brand-new direction. Produced by Neil David McDonald, MR. Slade slides in and around the lyrics; a low-fi homage to Harry’s original seduction.

“My music is an extension of my beliefs, both political and spiritual,” says MR. Slade. “The idea that if you are born a certain way based on your gender, orientation, or race that you are allowed only one avenue of expression. To me that doesn’t work. I started writing music heavily influenced by the DNA of classic rock and 80s hair metal with a bit of 90s alternative/grunge/ industrial thrown in. Pretty much everything a Queer South Asian guy had no business in, but a soundtrack for my personal rebellion against Society and its rules. I wanted to prove that labels are for soup cans and not people.”

MR. Slade’s interpretation of “Call Me” is a straight-up, dark corner of the night club love fest. It’s a gritty, electro-soundscape of “do you dares”, and “no regrets”. The song is a serve. And sets the stratosphere for more interpolated disco bangers to make a resurgence on the 2022 dance floor.

“I also wanted to explore music that was fun, aggressive, sexy but also questioned our consciousness and our individual roles in making the world a better place for all, while having the most fun doing it,” says MR. Slade.

Along with streaming the track online, MR. Slade also provides a visual component to the song. Fittingly in the video, MR. Slade wears a Debbie Harry tee, a Freddie Mercury ‘stache, and a smile that says: “Call Me”.