Los Angeles–based musician and producer The Undercover Dream Lovers has unveiled the official video for his latest single, “Prom Queen,” offering a shimmering, emotionally reflective departure from the project’s earlier fuzzy dream-pop textures. The track introduces a more expansive palette—one that leans into glossy synths, expressive guitar work, and sweeping string arrangements.

From its opening seconds, “Prom Queen” establishes a sense of time travel. The familiar whir of a VHS tape flickering to life serves as both a sonic and emotional entry point, grounding the song in a very specific kind of nostalgia. That feeling carries through the track and its visuals, where memories feel less like snapshots and more like structures—spaces shaped by longing, growth, and reevaluation.

Sonically, Matt Koenig draws from a wide range of influences, blending indie rock with sleek synth-pop in a way that bridges eras rather than replicating them. Critics have noted the contrast at the heart of the project: a bright, melodic surface paired with a darker emotional undercurrent. It’s a sound that captures both millennial unease and late-night introspection, rooted as much in feeling as in genre.

Koenig describes “Prom Queen” as a reflection on youth, filtered through shifting perspectives.

“A lot of the ideas came from reflecting on youth and nostalgia (late 90s / early 2000s), and pulling from nuclear family character types,” he explains. “The song flips between an alt-punk kid who’d rather skip prom and hang with his friends, and a mother figure looking back on her own prom queen era.”

Rather than romanticizing the past, the song questions it.

“Ultimately it’s about perspective and letting go of the idea that you need to be seen or act a certain way to feel worthy or appreciated,” Koenig adds.

The accompanying video, directed by Alex LaLiberté and Grant Spanier, mirrors that theme with a loose, documentary-style approach. Shot run-and-gun across multiple Los Angeles locations—including the former Teen Wolf set and the Mustang Motel—the visuals feel lived-in and unpolished, reinforcing the song’s emotional honesty.

Koenig’s creative path began early, recording music in his Pittsburgh bedroom by the age of fourteen. Those formative experiments eventually grew into The Undercover Dream Lovers, a solo project that quickly gained traction and critical attention, including prominent Spotify playlist placements. Relocating to Los Angeles provided new textures and contrasts—sunlit warmth colliding with bleary urban nights—that continue to shape the project’s evolving sound.

On his upcoming music, Koenig leans into immersion rather than nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Field recordings, subtle sound effects, and tactile sonic details function as emotional architecture, carefully constructed but never overworked. The result is music that invites listeners not just to remember, but to step inside the feeling.

With “Prom Queen,” The Undercover Dream Lovers offers a quiet reckoning with youth—one that finds meaning not in being seen, but in understanding what’s worth holding onto as time moves forward.

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