Sub Urban

Eerie instrumentals and haunted, vaporous vocals serve as key ingredients for Sub Urban’s dour, EDM-tinged pop. The New Jersey-based solo artist explored themes of isolation and nightmarish imagery on singles like 2019′s chart-topping “Cradles” and 2020′s “Freak” (feat. Rei Ami), the latter of which appeared on his debut EP Thrill Seeker. His first full-length effort, Hive, appeared in 2022.
Sub Urban was born Danny Maisonneuve in 1999 and grew up in New Jersey. After teaching himself music production, he began creating his own beats. The sound that eventually turned into Sub Urban explored EDM bass, rock song structures, and Maisonneuve’s detached croon. After appearing on a few tracks in 2017 and 2018 with DNMO, Sub Urban broke through in a bigger way with his 2019 single “Cradles.” The song’s creepy atmosphere and inventive music box-sampling instrumental were infectious enough to gather millions of streams in a short time, and the dark visuals of its accompanying video went on to be viewed over 100 million times. Sub Urban followed the success of this track the same year with second single “Isolate.” In March of 2020, he released the seven-song EP Thrill Seeker, featuring guest vocals from Rei Ami on opening song “Freak.” The following year saw the releases of the singles “Patchwerk” (feat. Two Feet) and “Inferno,” the latter of which appeared on Sub Urban’s full-length debut, 2022′s disorienting and wide-ranging Hive. ~ Fred Thomas