There is a specific kind of modern romance that never quite becomes a relationship and never quite ends. It lives in half-plans, delayed replies, and the quiet competition over who can care less. KIMIKO took that feeling and put it on a dance floor. Modern Dance, the title track of her debut EP, is synthpop with an alt pop edge and a dance-pop chorus built for people who have trained for love and still feel out of practice.
KIMIKO is the musical project of Los Angeles actress and singer-songwriter Kimiko Glenn. Screen fans already know her as Brook Soso on Orange Is the New Black, a role that earned the cast three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series. She originated Dawn in the Broadway production of Waitress, and her voice work stretches from Baby Shark to Niffty in Hazbin Hotel, with credits that also include BoJack Horseman and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. For years she was interpreting other people’s words. Modern Dance is her telling her own story.
The EP, released in 2026, is a five-song diary of bad dates, mixed signals, and emotional whiplash: Hang Out Forever?, Emotional Whiplash, Just Like That, BIG ICK ENERGY, and the title track. She has described the project as born from frustration, pulled from real dating rather than a concept she planned in advance. One track came out of feeling stuck in a battle of who can care less more. Instead of turning that into a sad-girl ballad, she leans into humor. The persona is an anti-hero: cute, a little rebellious, and willing to make the mess the punchline.
On the title track, that idea becomes choreography. Public credits list the song as written by Kimiko Glenn and Morgan Karr, the indie pop artist known as morgxn, whose single Home reached the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. She has said she wrote verses and then needed a hook, and turned to Karr, a longtime friend she jokingly calls the hook daddy, to unlock the chorus. The wider EP was built with a small recurring team that includes LA pop producer James Colla. Song credits on the official video also name Etienne Bowler and Chris Petrosino alongside Glenn in the production. It is a tight circle, not a committee, which fits a record this personal.
Musically, Modern Dance sits where synthpop, alt pop, and dance pop overlap right now. Synthpop is having another bright cycle, with electropop and glossy independent pop pulling listeners who want hooks without sanding off the personality. The title is not just a metaphor. The lyric frame is a pas de deux: gymnastics, acrobatics, the work of staying in step with someone who may not be keeping time. That is a smart use of dance-pop language. The genre promises movement. Here the movement is also the subject. You can hear why the visual treatment went theatrical. The official video, directed by Deathcats with choreography by Erika Soto, treats the grievance like a routine. She has also said the videos around the EP were shot with a mostly female-run crew, and that the set felt easier and more playful than a lot of her past creative work.
What makes the song stick is the refusal to pick one mood. Alt pop usually gets credit for the confession. Dance pop gets credit for the release. Modern Dance wants both. The dating story is specific enough to feel lived-in, and the chorus is built to be repeated, which is exactly what a debut title track needs to do. In a year when independent pop artists are chasing full creative control and shorter, sharper projects, a five-song EP with a clear point of view is a better introduction than a scattered run of singles. KIMIKO already had the audience from acting. The music asks them to meet a version of her that is unfiltered, self-aware, and funny about the ick.
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What do you think of this kind of confessional dance pop? Does Modern Dance sound like the situationship anthem of the year, or is there another track on the EP that hits harder? Let me know in the comments.
