A Chat with Atticus Kane (03.09.26)
Brooklyn-based, Budapest-born itinerant songwriter Atticus Kane shares ‘Love Me Not’, the latest single lifted from his album, News From Delphi. The fast-paced, rocking song turns a deeply personal experience of immigration and belonging into a meditation on the contradictions of American identity. We chat with Atticus Kane about all things music below.
OSR: News From Delphi is a title that immediately suggests ideas of prophecy, uncertainty and searching for meaning. What does “Delphi” represent to you, and how does the title frame the wider world that the album inhabits?
Atticus Kane: The title of the album actually comes from a line in ‘Ode To Minerva’ that says: “Beware your naked nemesis […] / He says he brought you news from Delphi as he gives you solid gold / But as you take it he smiles at you, and cries ‘your soul has been sold.’” I’ve always been fascinated by stories about the Oracle of Delphi. Most of them are cautionary tales about human hubris, unintended consequences, and wishful thinking. The idea that you can receive “news from Delphi” that you interpret as a comforting assurance, when it is actually a dire warning, like in the famous story about Croesus, is a theme I explore throughout the album. Trying to control events, thinking we are invincible, and believing that things will always remain exactly the way they are right now are all roads that can quickly lead to ruin. But as long as you learn from your mistakes, seek to genuinely understand others, and approach the world from a place of love, you have a fighting chance to use whatever news from Delphi you receive to avoid your own downfall.
OSR: ‘Love Me Not’ manages to be politically conscious without sounding like a conventional protest song. What do you think makes a political song endure beyond the immediate news cycle, and how important is ambiguity to you when writing about subjects that are emotionally or politically polarising?
Atticus Kane: To be honest, I wasn’t planning on writing a song with a specific political message. Playing around with the concept of being loved (and not being loved) seemed like a highly relatable, common concept that everyone experiences. The idea of contrasting illogical romantic love with illogical patriotic love seemed like an interesting juxtaposition to explore. Grounding the lyrics through a personal lens rather than a societal one is probably what kept the song from feeling too heavy or dogmatic.
That being said, I do think there are various ways artists can approach politics, current events, or society at large, and there is nothing wrong with being highly specific about a current topic. On the other hand, there is something deeply profound about a song that seems to speak to a greater humanity beyond the headlines. I often think about Bob Dylan’s ‘Only A Pawn In Their Game’. That song came out in 1964, and yet, listening to it today, it could very well have been written this year. The mirror it holds up, unfortunately, still perfectly reflects the struggles we face in 2026.
OSR: The song’s origin in a political robocall raises an interesting question about how modern life enters songwriting. Do you find that contemporary technology, advertising, social media and the constant noise of political communication have changed the kinds of stories that musicians are able to tell?
Atticus Kane: I guess my answer would be yes and no. While the technology delivering the messages, and the sheer volume of the messages we receive, have changed, the message itself hasn’t. Because humanity is so connected now, we know about all the bad things happening around the world in an instant, whereas a few generations ago, we barely knew what happened in the next town over.
At the same time, xenophobia, bigotry, racism, sexism, and chauvinism are not new concepts. Is it really all that different to write a song critical of the Vietnam War in the 1960s than to write a song critical of the Iran War in 2026? Maybe there is a case to be made that major artists used to be much more subversive and critical of injustice than they are now. But who am I to figure out why that is?
OSR: Your work appears interested in the relationship between the individual and the larger social world. When you are writing, do you begin with character and emotion and allow the politics to emerge naturally, or are there occasions when a political or social idea becomes the initial creative spark?
Atticus Kane: I tend to think of each song as a short story, and I always look for an intriguing narrative hook or anchor to explore in a new and interesting way. That spark could be an evocative phrase, an emotion, or a character. From there, I try to drop myself into the middle of that situation or character and write from that perspective. The politics usually emerge naturally from the personal experience. For example, a close friend of mine was violently arrested during a peaceful No Kings Day march, and that intensely personal, emotional event was the direct inspiration behind the song ‘I See You.’
OSR: There is a particular tension in ‘Love Me Not’ between wanting to belong and refusing to accept everything about the place you want to belong to. Has that tension appeared elsewhere in your songwriting, and do you see it as a recurring theme in your work beyond this particular album?
Atticus Kane: I think the human condition is fundamentally about wanting conflicting things: wanting to assimilate and belong while also being proud of where you come from; loving someone but also being annoyed by them; being content with what you have but still wanting more. These are emotions we’re all familiar with, yet none of us truly know how to resolve them. To me, the exploration of these tensions is what makes for great art, so it will definitely remain a recurring theme in my writing.
OSR: As someone who has moved between countries and cities, do you think constant movement has made you more observant as a songwriter? Conversely, has being an itinerant artist ever made it more difficult to establish the kind of deep-rooted community or sense of home that can also feed creativity?
Atticus Kane: I believe that you gain profound perspective through travel. Experiencing different cultures, customs, and people doesn’t just help you understand how other people live; it forces you to actively compare and contrast how you live, what you value, and what you do or don’t like.
At the same time, being an outsider is definitely a double-edged sword. To your point, you can easily find yourself on the periphery of society, seeing everything, but not truly experiencing it. I’ve lived through both sides of that coin, and both isolation and community have their pros and cons. It took me a while to build my own community in Brooklyn, and I am so fortunate to have found my friends and loved ones here. Perhaps Brooklyn is a special case because it’s full of people from all over the world who choose to come and live here, which makes it easier to find and be a part of a like-minded community. I’ve always believed that it’s the people that make a place special, and people in NYC are sure special.
OSR: The concept of “analog love in an unjust world” is a striking description of your artistic outlook. What does analog love mean to you in practical terms, and how does that idea influence the way you write, record, perform or interact with an audience in an increasingly digital music culture?
Atticus Kane: I think people crave human connection now more than ever: choosing a handwritten birthday card over an e-card, an awkward phone call over a quick text message, an off-Broadway play over just another piece of two-screen content. I also think people are very much tuned into what’s happening in their communities, their country, and the world at large.
Combining those two philosophies is what “analog love in an unjust world” means to me. It anchors every creative decision: which songs were selected for the album, what the album sounds like, and what kind of content accompanies the rollout. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see the audience respond to that specific, tactile authenticity.
OSR: When you look back at the songs on News From Delphi, which track surprised you most during the writing or recording process? Was there a song that revealed something about yourself that you had not consciously intended to explore when you began working on it?
Atticus Kane: The biggest surprise for me has been the feedback I’ve been getting on ‘Before Back Then.’ That is a song I was almost too embarrassed to even share with my producers because the lyrics are quite personal and the song structure is incredibly simple. Even then, I remember being surprised by how much they liked it. Since the release, I have had several people tell me that it is their favorite song on the track. The lyrics explore the idea of wanting to be who you were, back when you wanted to be who you are today. It’s a sort of soliloquy about “be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.” One of the hardest things you have to do as an artist is put yourself out there with all your flaws and imperfections, and then embrace the response to it, both good and bad. That track allowed me to have that nerve-racking, but ultimately rewarding, experience.
OSR: If someone encounters Atticus Kane for the first time through ‘Love Me Not’, what do you hope they understand about the artist behind the song? And when you imagine the next chapter of your career, what questions are you still trying to answer that you have not yet been able to put into a song?
Atticus Kane: I hope that people who listen to ‘Love Me Not’ can enjoy and experience it on several levels. Perhaps, when listening to it for the very first time, they’ll simply enjoy it on a superficial level: they’ll tap their feet to the tempo, get swept up in the beat, enjoy the melody, and maybe even start singing “Love me, love me not” during the last chorus. Then, after a couple of listens, maybe they start paying attention to the lyrics, wondering what they mean. Maybe they’ll do some research, discover the inspiration behind them, and listen to the track with a renewed, deeper appreciation. I ultimately hope that they keep coming back to it, discovering some new detail each time until they feel like they know it as well as their favorite pair of jeans.
As for what’s next: I’ve already started working on a new project that I hope to finish by the summer of next year. I would also love to go on tour to connect with fans in person. Ultimately, I am excited to keep writing songs, not so much to find the answers, but to ask the right questions to get myself and my audience thinking. After all, the right questions can help anyone figure out what they truly believe, value, and stand for.
Many thanks to Atticus Kane for speaking with us. Find out more about Instagram and Spotify.
