FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alexis Plaen Drops Cosmic-Era Protest Anthem “Return”
A Surreal Descent into the Body, Co-Produced by Shadowcat Music & Ryan Lofty
Out Now — March 28, 2025
CHICAGO, IL — March 28, 2025 — With her latest release “Return,” Chicago-based alt-pop artist Alexis Plaen rips a hole in the sky and falls straight through it. The track, co-produced by Shadowcat Music and Ryan Lofty, is a swirling, high-stakes meditation on exhaustion, eco-anxiety, and the impossible cost of being alive in a world that feels like it’s burning from both ends.
From the first line — “Wish I could hit the return key” — the track dives into themes of cosmic disconnection, capitalist collapse, and generational grief. What starts as a quiet plea quickly spirals into a cathartic outburst: “Too expensive to die / Too expensive to live / It’s comical how we gotta pay to exist.”
Plaen’s vocal performance walks a tightrope between vulnerability and fury, floating above an icy synthscape laced with expansive guitars and minimalist percussion. The chorus echoes like a glitching mantra, looping through lines about digital escape and the desperate desire for stillness: “Maybe just delete me / I’m not lazy, I just maybe / Need some space to breathe.”
Co-produced by her longtime creative team at Shadowcat Music and collaborator Ryan Lofty, Return brings a futuristic edge to Plaen’s emotionally dense songwriting. It’s both expansive and claustrophobic—an anthem for anyone feeling like they’ve been logged out of their own body.
The release follows her acclaimed singles Needle in a Groove and Boregasm, continuing a trajectory that blends raw existentialism with sharp musical experimentation. With Return, Plaen doesn’t just tell us how it feels—she transmits it, straight from the cosmos to your headphones.
“Return” is available everywhere music streams.