“Pop is music that gives you something to hold on to,” says Chris Chu of POP ETC. It can be a melody, a lyric, a rhythm, or all of the above but pop music always elevates and celebrates the hook – the catchy bit that sticks in your head, or sends you reaching to turn up the volume. At its best, pop also mixes familiar elements with the fresh and unexpected.

After spending time in Japan, 2014 was committed to POP ETC (Chris Chu, his brother Jon Chu, and Julian Harmon) being holed up in Brooklyn, NY writing and recording material that continuously reflects the band’s fresh approach to music. “Running In Circles” is one of the first songs that came out of these sessions. The song embodies the crisp yet rugged aesthetic POP ETC has cultivated over the years. Chris Chu explains that the song is essentially about “losing track of where you are and where your life is taking you. It’s about losing someone or something close to you and the disorientation that follows.” POP ETC worked with Yale Yng-Wong (Bear Hands, Chairlift) and Vlado Meller (Kanye West, Metallica) to mix and master “Running In Circles”.