Inspiration for RIOPY’s forthcoming singles on themes of winter and Christmas came from an unlikely source: 19th-century European Impressionist painting, particularly works of Vincent van Gogh. It’s no surprise that RIOPY, who used music-making to overcome a challenging past, feels an affinity to the renowned Dutch artist, whose own struggles with mental health shaped his art, most notably his famed Starry Night. The first single, a reimagining of the Christmas carol “Silent Night,” is imbued with a childlike sense of innocence and joviality, the familiar melody enveloped in a soundscape that is distinctly RIOPY. With nearly 150 weeks atop the US Billboard charts and 828 million streams worldwide, RIOPY again shows that he is one of the most captivating sonic storytellers of today.
