Today 19 year-old alternative-pop singer-songwriter renforshort premieres her vulnerable yet explosive new single and video “moshpit,” an up-close portrait of a destructive relationship.
Written by ren, her frequent collaborator Jeff Hazin and Alexander 23, and co-produced by Hazin and Alexander 23, “moshpit” brilliantly uses its title phrase as a metaphor for the chaos of a toxic romance (from the sing-along-ready chorus: “If I take an elbow to the face/One more time I think I’ll break/I’m not saying I’m a saint, but you’re hell”). Although ren’s magnetic vocals embody a quiet restraint at the start of “moshpit,” she soon takes on a raw ferocity as the guitar-heavy yet achingly delicate track reaches its epic bridge.
Says renforshort, ““I started working on ‘moshpit’ on a day that I was really overwhelmed with life in general. This song feels very unique in the writing, it’s an interesting analogy especially with the juxtaposition of the track being a bit softer rather than what you’d imagine a song called ‘moshpit’ would sound like. It’s about an annoying relationship where you’re treated like garbage and just keep trying to get out, but you don’t wanna risk hurting the other person’s feelings.”
Directed by Zach Bailey, the darkly cinematic video for “moshpit” follows ren through a series of isolated scenarios: texting in her bedroom; gazing out the window as she rides the bus at night; alone in a cold and clinical, retro-futuristic setting. With its dreamy sci-fi surrealism, the visual also finds ren encountering mysterious creatures made of brightly glowing light, perfectly amplifying the song’s unsettling quality. And in its final moments, the video mimics the mayhem of a mosh pit as the camera turns topsy-turvy and throws ren’s world into complete turmoil.
“moshpit” marks the first new music from ren since her critically lauded 2021 EP off saint dominique — a June release that drew acclaim from the likes of NME, who hailed her as a “pop-rock riser…unafraid to speak her mind.” The six-track project features standouts like “fall apart”: a bombastic pop-punk anthem that earned ren her first production credit and amassed over a million global streams in under two weeks. Soon after putting out the EP, ren joined Yungblud on his fall UK tour.
renforshort will hit the road again this spring joining Tai Verdes on his North American tour. For a complete list of tour dates, and to purchase tickets, visit www.renforshort.com/tour.
Named an Apple Up Next Artist (Canada), Vevo DSCVR artist, and YouTube Trending Artist on the Rise, ren got her start playing open-mic nights in local bars and released two independent singles before she’d even graduated high school. At the peak of the pandemic, she shared her debut EP teenage angst, brimming with seven soul-baring, alt-pop bangers influenced by everyone from Nirvana to Amy Winehouse. And she hasn’t slowed down since. renforshort continued cutting her teeth writing music resulting in her sophomore EP off saint dominique, a collection of deeply reflective and snappy tracks that range from acoustic pop to alt-rock to pop-punk. ren infuses all her music with equal parts sophisticated storytelling, pop-perfect hooks, and unhinged punk energy. To date, that approach has won her a devoted following and garnered praise from such outlets as V Magazine, who noted that “her prose perfectly encapsulates the sometimes messy, often confusing, always angsty reality of Gen Z teenagehood.”
