Dago Detroit explores alien encounters in new single "Michigan Dark Forest"

Late nights, towering trees, and whispers from the sky that’s the ambiance Dago Detroit evokes on his latest single, “Michigan Dark Forest.” Written under the moon’s mysterious glow in northern Michigan, the track is born of cosmic inspiration based upon actual local alien sightings. Dago is not spinning fiction here. This is the music of lived experience and encounters with the unknown. “Michigan Dark Forest” plants its roots deep in the soil of hip-hop’s darker reaches. Listeners who know their sound will pick up on the tilted loops and the feeling that something’s creeping just outside the frame of the track.

Dago’s delivery strikes a delicate balance between curiosity and paranoia, as if he’s rapping while glancing through the treetops for signs of lights. His voice threads through the production like the beam of a flashlight flitting through the woods, repeated unsure, searching, relentless. Underground bass is the low rumble beneath a light, glitchy percussion, surrounded by strange synth textures that seem to belong on Earth but have undergone otherworldly transformations. It’s almost like the forest is attempting to tell us something. What is so wonderful about “Michigan Dark Forest” is that it sticks to its mood. Dago evokes the odd not for the references but for the come-night soil he gives it to sleep in and a microphone.

It’s an immersive game, not in the sense of “put on your headphones and vibe,” but because there might be something moving behind that tree over there, so keep your eyes open. It’s a transmission, part warning, part confession, all vibe. From the off-kilter genius of Dr. Octagon to anyone who’s ever felt like they’re being watched walking alone in the woods, “Michigan Dark Forest” is the song your headphones will be haunted by long after the final note has faded out. Dago Detroit is onto something, and you’re going to want to listen to what that sounds like.