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Lennon Cripe invents a whole new genre – Golf Pop (Yep – Golf Pop)
This Needle in the Hay spotlight, backed by our chaos-loving friends at Mullet Wines, is aimed straight at the alt-pop bullseye—shining on international wildcard Lennon Cripe, whose new track Deadbeat might just have sparked an entirely new genre: Golf Pop.
No, not golf as in fairways and polos (though that would be iconic), but a lush, lofi-pop hybrid that’s got range, and serious replay value. (We’ve literally had this tune on four times straight.)
Born somewhere between Florida and Chile, Lennon was out there filming DIY rap videos on his uncle’s stolen VHS cam by the age of 8.
Fast forward to now, and he’s throwing a sonic cocktail of Death Cab, Sufjan Stevens, Mac Miller, RHCP, and TLC into a blender – and somehow it works.
Equal parts raw emotion and vibey production, Deadbeat is a moody, melodic vent session that sounds like if your favourite indie sadboy took molly and made peace with life (that is, the kind that’s ‘hard to digest’).
Deadbeat opens like lo-fi R&B-drenched indie pop—those vocals are giving early Ben Gibbard or soft-focus Sufjan – but the vibe swerves into funkier, bass-driven territory, RHCP-style, by the time the outro creeps in.
It’s hazy, hooky, and completely its own thing.
Cripe’s debut EP, You Only Live Forever, dropped April 4, and it’s full of genre-bending surprises. A little bit alt-R&B, a little emo-rap, and a whole lot of “what is this and why do I love it?”
Needle in the Hay is all about finding that sound before the rest of the world catches on. With over $50K in prizes and a vinyl pressing of the winner’s single, it’s a career-maker.
Big love to Mullet Wines for backing the chaos—bold flavour, bigger energy, and now, bolder music.
🎧 Wrap your ears around Lennon Cripes Deadbeat— and You Only Live Forever EP out now.
👉 Keen to enter NITH yourself? Local entries here, international here.