Following a handful of recent EPs, up-and-comer Omar Apollo is gearing up for his debut album. Following his first single of 2020, “Imagine U,” Apollo returns for the lush number “Stayback.”
The video accompanying “Stayback” pays homage to those carefree summer nights driving around with friends. Omar and his crew arrive at a pool party and things go off without a hitch until the singer notices his crush has found another lover.
The song itself features a wonky bass and layered production over lyrics that detail the aftermath of unrequited love. “You know I been feeling you since way back / But I couldn’t even make the words to say that, say that / If I could switch bodies you know I’d change that, change that / But you could never love me so stay back, stay back,” Apollo sings.
In a statement about the single, Apollo says he penned the song as a reflection on healing after a particularly painful breakup: “Stayback is a song about being in love for a long period of time. After years of being hurt emotionally, I moved on and decided to treat the relationship as a memory instead of fantasizing it and trying to make it work. When I finished the production, I realized this was the song that I’ve been wanting to make my entire career. My guitar player Oscar killed the solo on it and really brought the whole thing together.”
Listen to “Stayback” above.
Omar Apollo is a Warner Music artist. .
