There’s this warmth that radiates Michellar’s music and if you’re familiar with her music, you would understand exactly what that means. For those who’ve followed her journey on our blog, you already know that Michellar (the moniker of San Francisco-based artist Michelle Bond) is no stranger to storytelling. She has built her music around a soul which can be felt through every song she puts out.
With her latest release Game of Love — a collaborative single featuring Rad Datsun (Brad Johnson), she takes us through a space where vulnerability, chemistry, and artistic freedom intertwine. A track that examines love not as a perfect fairytale, but as the unpredictable, beautiful mess it often is.
Game of Love is a creative meeting of Hearts and Minds born out of a retreat earlier this year. Michelle Bond and Brad Johnson created this track while meeting at a songwriting retreat nestled in the San Bernardino mountains—two artists connecting creatively despite recording their parts from opposite ends of the country. That sense of distance somehow adds to the song’s emotional layers, like love itself: sometimes far apart but somehow perfectly in sync. It began as a partnership but evolved into something more. This is a song made from deep connection and an artistic energy. It captures the emotional tug of war of modern love, laced with vulnerability.
Produced by Marius Alexandru (working remotely from Romania), the track was anything but typical. The moment you hit play, there’s a rare kind of magic where every note, every lyric, every little production detail works perfectly together.
This song is not fairy-tale romance, but the real, messy, beautiful push-and-pull that so many of us experience. Listening to this song makes you feel the tenderness and tension enveloped in a warm sound. The looping backtrack almost mimics the way our hearts race when we’re caught in those uncertain love games, part hesitation and part excitement.
Michellar’s vocals carries the song effortlessly and with grace. It feels like a secret is being shared while Rad Datsun’s vocals add that perfect contrast, like the voice of the other side of the conversation. Together, they bring the story to life in a way that feels intimate and real.
This is one song that will not just play through your speakers but will plant itself firmly inside your chest, syncing with the rhythms of your own experiences. This song is a testament to the joy of finding a collaborator who shares your artistic wavelength, and to the magic that can happen when stories of love are told with honesty, warmth, and intricate detail.
If you haven’t heard Game of Love yet, now’s the perfect time to experience the heartfelt collaboration between Michellar and Brad Johnson.
Listen to the track on SOUNDLOUD or SPOTIFY
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