“Spotlight”

Before Lil Peep’s untimely death in November, the emo rap sensation was working on several different projects, including new music with iLoveMakonnen and part two of his debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober. His mother, Liza Womack, has since expressed a desire to preserve her son’s memory through his music, and a new collaboration with EDM producer Marshmello, “Spotlight,” honors her wish. Wistful and caustic all at once, the song is a reminder of Peep’s promise as a rap-rock spitfire. “When the moon hit your skin/I could see you and him/Not you and me,” he intones.

“Spotlight” has all the urgency of the more lovestruck Peep tracks, full of obsession and contempt. The melodies are simple but heady, each chant layered and corrosive. Many of Peep’s lyrics are confessional and self-pitying, but the writing gets most evocative when the timelines get hazy. “Sex with you is like I’m dreaming/And I just wanna hear you scream again/Now you’re gone/I can’t believe that/Time I spent with you deceivin’ me,” he sings, his memories of a lover as fresh as the absence. Guitars and synths bleed together in similar fashion, melting over trap drums. In one instance, he longs for her; in the next, he’s put off by her duplicity. The tailspin is disorienting, and this confusion was always where Lil Peep thrived.