BOSTON, MA [September 10, 2021] — In the age of the lie, Gene Dante remains the truth. But that won’t stop the glam rock aesthete from commanding the power of the fib — its impact both innocent and incendiary — in his swirling new single “L.I.E. (Do You Wanna)”, set for release on Friday, September 10. It’s the third single from Dante’s explosive new album, this October’s DL/UX., following summertime scorcher “She’s Outside” and last months cruising “High Time,” a favorite of The Rodney Bingenheimer Show on SiriusXM’s Underground Garage.

“‘L.I.E.’ is about the things we say to appear stronger, and not allow anyone to know the power others may have over us,” Dante says. “It can be anyone who’s no longer in our life: An ex-lover, a former adversary, someone who died, etc. The initialistic title is borrowed from the brilliant film of the same name.”

We all have a person in our lives who has deceived and conquered, and required our own brand of self-care to act as a shield in the battlefield of relationships. Now Dante is channeling that universal experience into a song that’s theatrical in its sweeping nature, but still razor sharp to cut through the bullshit. Like most things, inspiration lies not far from the veil of deception — and the mask we wear to protect ourselves in the process. 

“I was thinking about how we all have at least one person who is our kryptonite — making us weak or powerless — and when they are no good for us, how do we survive?” Dante asks. “What do we tell ourselves, the people around us, that person?  …confess?  …tell them where to hit?  …how to hurt us?  Of course we don’t.  We lie.”

Part catharsis, part purge of frustrations, “L.I.E.” is a journey for Dante to free himself and explore more dangerous and possibly unflattering subjects on a path to personal redemption. And it runs along the seam of a common thread of his forthcoming DL/UX album, where the artist, actor, and songwriter has embarked on a journey to discover his true self — and releasing the bad seeds along the way. 

It’s a companion piece to “High Time,” a glammed out number all about showing the selfish folk the door, and continues a fiery line of emerging from the ashes of society’s shortcomings set forth on debut DL/UX single “She’s Outside.” And like most journeys, the lotion to soothe a spirited burn from another began with a riff. 

“There can absolutely be value in a lie,” admits Dante. “Sometimes we lie with the best intentions: to protect ourselves, keep the peace, buy some time, open a door, spare someone’s feelings. Is deception necessarily devious? I compiled a list of the things we say to protect ourselves; words said to me so I’d get over something; words maybe *I’ve* said to protect myself. I knew there was a song here… and it made me angry.  So I strapped on a guitar, set the metronome to a high BPM, and started jamming.  The verse riff came first; very tension-filled.  From there it was easy to create the refrain as a release.  The tension was in asking the questions ‘will a lie help?’ The release was in the lies themselves… and how easily they flowed.”

Sometimes, the lie is the only way to maintain the truth about yourself. 

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