Rising Canadian music producer, Nicolaas has released his new single “Shot In the Dark” featuring vocals from Nick Allbrook (frontman for Pond; former member of Tame Impala.) 

The single, “Shot In the Dark,” is a dark disco house track that also fits in Nick’s psych-rock wheelhouse he’s best known for.

Rob Bakker, aka NICOLAAS shares that “Shot In the Dark” is a colorful mix.

“My goal was to walk the line between dark disco and glam rock, and to do that justice, I knew I needed a bold and stylish vocal performance. Lucky for me, Nick was feeling the demo, and he really ran with it! I’ve been a huge fan of his for years, so being able to collaborate on this track has been an absolute treat. The louder you play this, the better.”

Allbrook adds, “I’ve heard the word ‘manifestation’ a whole lot recently, and I think it applies to Rob reaching out with this song, and how I gently asked the universe for a dark disco house banger to sing over by listening to Kylie’s Slow and Dinosaur L and Ray of Light every day for a few months and dreaming of disco balls and the club and a burning pyre of guitars.”

This project, NICOLAAS marks a new beginning for Bakker. He’s already a well-respected rapper under the name of “Muneshine.” His songs dominated the underground rap and hip-hop scene in Canada, earning him a few Juno Award nominations, a Much Music Video Award nomination, and a win of the prestigious SOCAN Songwriters Award.

The successful Canadian felt exhausted creatively and felt like he has hit a wall with producing music. 

“I needed something new and I needed to wrap it in a shiny new package. My greys needed some neon.” 

To do this, Rob turned up the BPMs and pulled from inspirations he’d never dreamed of accessing – genres he admired from a distance like disco, house, and funk, as well artists such as Nile Rodgers, Blondie, Daft Punk and Toro Y Moi. He began creating as he’d never created before.

 “I abandoned the style of sampling and reworking someone else’s song and wrote my own melodies. The energy felt alive. I felt born again.” 

To complete the transformation, Rob decided to retire the pseudonym he was so well known for and identify by his middle name, NICOLAAS.

The single can be listened to on all streaming services.