RIOT SON – What Makes You Think (2025)
Vivid, vibrant, rambunctious and rebellious, but with the soothing sense of connection and clarity, RIOT SON captures the core of reality and rips it apart with raw emotional intent in each single. Hailing from the US, New Carolina to be exact, the talented musician brings a sound influenced by the underground new wave music – cinematic and hauntingly ambient but simultaneously brash, abrupt and bold. In August 2025, we came across his alternative rock meets emo rock single, ‘Loneliest At Best’. Today, he crosses our desk once again with tinges of alternative rock in the single, ‘What Makes You Think’.
We previously described RIOT SON as a “mish-mash of My Chemical Romance and The Used; then add a drop of vintage post-punk ala The Smiths and The Cure…”; ‘What Makes You Think’ leads us through this genre concoction once more. Produced with Germany-based producer Manget$u, the single has a glaze of Joy Division and Pulp, while a shimmer of Interpol splashes an alternative rock flair. A heavy bass matches bold drums with a soaring guitar flitting along the melody, and a keyboard giving the brief shimmer of silvery light in the background – all bound in a harmonic sonic ribbon.
For me, the instrumentation is intriguing in that it moves in unity, while I sit on the edge of my seat waiting for that grunge distortion that will not arrive. I’m unsure why, but, for some reason, a haunting obscurity hopes for that slice of off-kilter-ness. The thing is, while I’m left on a sonic cliff waiting for a Radiohead slip, RIOT SON owns the moment with the moving arrangement and his rugged but crisp vocals. Vocals that eloquently execute the theme of frustration, confusion, and uncertainty within intricate relationships. RIOT SON explains:
“‘What Makes You Think’ is about the complexities and frustrations that arise in relationships. It’s also about how quick we are to be indecisive or fickle and how easy it is to feel that we don’t truly know what we want even when we think we do… This track came from a place of deep reflection – questioning myself, questioning love, replaying memories that feel too heavy to shake off…”
Find out more about RIOT SON on his Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Soundcloud, YouTube and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more alternative rock music on The Other Side Reviews Alternative Rock playlist:
