LAPTOP – “CONFUSED”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
Today we have the pleasure of introducing a rare kind of return — one that doesn’t trade on nostalgia, but on lived experience, artistic rigor, and a deep understanding of how pop music can quietly document history as it happens. Few artists who emerged in the late ’90s managed to fuse irony, melody, and social awareness with such precision, and even fewer have carried that sensibility forward with their relevance not only intact, but sharpened. This is the sound of a legacy that has never stopped listening, never stopped questioning, and never stopped evolving — a legacy that now finds renewed urgency in the present moment. That legacy belongs to NYC alternative pop outfit Laptop.
“Confused” arrives at a moment when the American psyche feels suspended between disbelief and exhaustion, and its resonance is impossible to ignore. Written in response to January 6 — now marking its fifth anniversary — the song captures the vertigo of watching democratic norms unravel in real time, not from the safety of hindsight, but from inside the chaos itself. This is music that understands the psychic toll of endless news cycles, performative outrage, and the creeping sense that history is looping rather than progressing. Laptop don’t narrate the crisis; they embody it, translating collective anxiety into rhythm, texture, and unease.
What makes “Confused” especially vital is its refusal to posture or moralize. Instead, it reflects the current American condition with unnerving clarity: the overload of information, the erosion of shared truth, and the creeping absurdity that makes outrage feel routine. The song feels less like commentary and more like a transmission — urgent, unsettled, and emotionally precise. In an era where many artists gesture toward politics, Laptop fully inhabit it, crafting a track that feels simultaneously intimate and societal, personal and unavoidably public.
That level of insight is no accident. Laptop have always operated a step ahead of the cultural curve, shaping ideas rather than following them. Their work has long blurred the boundaries between art-pop, satire, and social observation, and “Confused” stands as one of their most accomplished statements yet.
Formed in the late ’90s and having released three albums with Island Records with praise from the likes of the NME and The Guardian, Laptop is a testament to artists who continue to redefine what relevance looks like across generations — fearless, perceptive, and startlingly alive to the moment we’re all trying to make sense of. Now a multi-generational project with Jesse Hartman and his son Charlie Hartman at its core, their generational perspective extends to the artwork. The cover image — a stark, almost African-influenced child’s face — was painted by daughter Lulu, whose voice also appears on this track.
“‘Confused’ came from the shock of watching January 6 unfold on TV — but the really twisted part is that we’d been in D.C. two days earlier, visiting family, cluelessly being tourists, while staying at the hotel where the lead insurrectionists were actually meeting. We had no idea. But the city felt off — weirdly quiet, strange characters everywhere — like the ’70s version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. MAGA evangelicals blowing Jewish shofars, that kind of bizarro-ness,” says Jesse Hartman. “Then we went back to New York, life felt normal again for a moment,, and then a day later we were watching the least normal thing I’ve ever seen unfold. The whole family was completely freaked out, especially Lulu. (“Daddy was confused…Now, he’s flown the coop” – or is it coup? – recalling the ghostly children’s chorus of “Another Brick in the Wall”). Once the song got going, it felt obvious she had to be part of it. ”The trippy video for “Confused” depicts a CNN-style news broadcast, with Jesse Hartman as the anchor, calmly delivering chaos with the authority of media normalcy. Cleverly planned and engaging, making you want to watch it several times over to catch all its separate elements, this video features several other Laptop members – Denise Gordon and Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson – as the correspondents documenting those chaotic January 6 events, their dispatches understandably fragmented and contradictory.
“Confused” is available across streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.
CREDITS
Written by: Jesse Hartman
Published by: Exurbia Music, Inc. (BMI)
Produced by: Jesse Hartman
Jesse Hartman — vocals, guitars, keys, synths, piano, bass, drum machine, percussion
Charlie Hartman — vocals
Marlena “Lulu” Hartman — vocals, synth
Geddys “Ch4se” Ferguson — vocals
Denise Gordon — vocals
Mike Desmarais — drums
Ben Jones — piano
Bruce Irvine (aka The Black Panther) — slide guitar
Lluísen Capafons — conga, percussion
Lee Sullivan — saxophone
Matthew Dakoutro — cello, viola, violin
Siuxx — keys, synths
Engineered by Iñaki Ariste Aznar, Edward Douglas, Jesse Hartman
Mixed by Ray Aldaco, Nicholas Vernhes, Edward Douglas, Jesse Hartman
Mastered by Dave Trumfio
Artwork Painting by Marlena “Lulu” Hartman, Design by Jesse Hartman & Scott Ratner
UPC/EAN 5063858817812
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
While you’re here, feast on these high-attention videos for their latest singles:
Laptop
[Single]
(Hurricane Cove Records)
Release Date: January 23, 2026
Artist Links
Photo Credits: Thomas Krause
SPILL CONTEST: WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE THE SHEEPDOGS ON JULY 26 AT JACKSON-TRIGGS NIAGARA ESTATE AMPHITHEATRE!
SPILL FEATURE: FEELIN’ GOOD, LIKE YOU KNOW I SHOULD – A CONVERSATION WITH EWAN CURRIE OF THE SHEEPDOGS
