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How Tinder and Elvis Presley inspired Prozzäk's new song

Prozzäk's James Bryan tells the story behind the Canadian band's reunion and its new single, 'Love Me Tinder.'
Canadian duo Prozzak are back with a new single and their first album in 12 years. (Courtesy of Prozzak)

When Jay Levine first came up with the Elvis Presley-inspired pun, "Love Me Tinder," Prozzäk collaborator James Bryan knew they had to write a song using this phrase. A year later, that has manifested into the band's new single from its first album in 12 years.

"Simon and Milo were cryogenically frozen for a number of years," admits Bryan. But ever since their live reunion at Atomic Lollipop in 2015, Levine and Bryan agreed that it was time to return to their cartoon alter egos. But just as this new song proves, nothing much has changed in Prozzäk's colourful, animated world.

"Simon is still on the hunt for real love and I don't think it's any easier to be single right now," Bryan notes, of Simon's perpetual state of longing for love. "On this song, Simon is looking to Tinder to solve his problems, but ultimately, he realizes a series of one-night stands is not going to get him where he wants to go."

The song itself is also reminiscent of older times, with Prozzäk's classic sound of synth-pop and acoustic flair (provided by Milo in the cartoon videos). The main difference now is Levine and Bryan's writing process, which is done via another technological advancement: Skype.

"Jay is in L.A. and I'm in Toronto so thanks to Skype and Facetime, we end up doing some of the writing that way," Bryan says. "We definitely couldn't have made the record if it wasn't 2017 and those options were available to us."

So the question remains: with all these technologies now, will Simon ever find love?

"There's something that's intrinsic to his character that he has to be searching because I think that's what people relate to," Bryan explains. "I don't think Simon getting married and settling down will be that exciting for fans — for the sake of art, I think Simon might be doomed to a life of searching."

Prozzäk's new single, 'Love Me Tinder,' was inspired by a pun on Elvis Presley's famous song, 'Love Me Tender.' (Courtesy of Prozzäk)

— Melody Lau, q digital staff