Queer singer, songwriter and producer vincethealien releases “TENDERNESS”, a new collaboration with French producer MOTTRON.
Built from a collision of alternative pop, indietronica, and art-pop, the track moves through clipped percussion, distorted rhythmic layers, and stripped-back melodic lines that never fully settle. It carries a constant push and pull: close, then distant; soft, then cutting; intimate, but never safe.
This is not a song that tries to resolve emotion. It stays inside it.
vincethealien has built a catalogue that rarely sits still. Moving between R&B, rock, trip-hop, industrial textures and dance-driven production, his work has always leaned into contradiction rather than clarity. “TENDERNESS” continues that approach, but with a more exposed emotional core; less armour, more direct contact.
The track pulls from early-2000s alternative and electronic music culture, where experimental pop and club sounds often shared the same space. There’s a sense of nostalgia in the production language, but it is not looking backwards. It feels more like memory being processed in real time.
The idea for “TENDERNESS” began in early 2025 during sessions for his previous project ALL I WANTED WAS TO BE YOUR LOVER. It was originally written and recorded in his home studio, but something about it didn’t belong in that era. It stayed unfinished until later, when MOTTRON entered the picture.
After a remix collaboration on an earlier release, the two artists began exchanging ideas. When MOTTRON heard “TENDERNESS”, the track shifted quickly into its final form. The original demo — still present in the final version — was rebuilt through layered percussion, stripped electronics and a tighter rhythmic structure, while keeping the emotional friction intact.
The inspiration behind the song came from a specific question: what does it mean to ask someone for tenderness when you are not sure they can meet you there?
During the writing process, vincethealien was reading Tenderness: A Black Queer Meditation on Softness and Rage by Annika Hansteen-Izora, a book that reframes tenderness as something that exists alongside anger, grief, intimacy, and resistance rather than standing opposite them. That idea shaped the emotional language of the track.
It also sits alongside lived experience: shifting relationships, moments of closeness that didn’t hold, and the realization that emotional availability is not always mutual, even when intention is there.
“TENDERNESS means so much to me. This song has pushed me to continue to get comfortable with telling my story and experiences in life without shame or fear. I still have a lot of work to do intrinsically to challenge and learn more about myself, though I’m so proud of what this song has made room for, which is a deeper understanding of who I am as an artist and more opportunities to connect with others who relate with the process of learning how to ask for tenderness, love, intimacy, vulnerability, and understanding. It’s been exciting to be a part of that conversation with others through this song; I’m super grateful for that and don’t take that for granted.”
Rather than treating vulnerability as something soft or decorative, “TENDERNESS” sits closer to discomfort and the moment where asking feels more exposing than staying silent.
Alongside future releases, vincethealien is also expanding his project through accompanying podcast-style pieces that sit next to the music rather than explain it, building a wider conversation around each release within his evolving universe.
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