Emo Regulation is the debut collaboration by the German musician and producer RIP Swirl and the Danish singer, songwriter, producer—and member of the duo X & Yde—Ydegirl. Over six tracks, the textures of trip hop, pop, and indie rock are fused in a decidedly 2025 fashion. As the name suggests, there is an emotional resonance to these tunes that, in some kind of general way, point to the feeling one might get from some of the better turn-of-the-century emo pop. It’s guitar music with feeling. We had a nice email exchange with the duo. Read our interview and listen to the EP below.

How did this collaboration come together?

Luka: I reached out to Andrea on Instagram after hearing “breezing back and forth between” and then she moved to Berlin in 2021 and we started doing sessions and became friends.

The title Emo Regulation is fairly evocative. Is there a story behind it?

Andrea: People in parks sitting alone listening to music in their headphones around Berlin became a species of their own that I was inspired by.

What is it about this specific archetype—the solo public listener—that inspires you? 

In the latest season of Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal, he talks about this pilot who made an emergency landing on the Hudson while listening to Evanescence. That’s some emo regulation!

What is the ideal context for an Emo Regulation listen?

Andrea: Going on a trip out of the city, best if it includes jumping some fences.

Did this collaboration open up any new creative pathways for either of you?

Andrea: I was quite obsessed with a minimal/sparse approach to my music, so seeing how Luka works with textures and layering to create a more dense sound has been really cool. Also stepping away from being hands on with production allowed me to listen differently and find more freedom in my singing as well. 

Luka: When I work on my solo stuff, I usually work with different singers or no vocals at all, so it’s been very inspiring to make a whole coherent record that tells a story.

"Perfect day / By the lake." That's a lyric from "Spirals On My Tongue." What is that song about? Describe your perfect day.

Andrea: It’s about Berlin summer, spent by the lakes, sitting on a log. That summer I had spirals tattooed on my tongue. I was swimming a lot, across the lake from shore to shore, while thinking about the absurdity of what’s happening between two other bodies of water. 

Favorite 90s guitar music record? I'm keeping it as broad as possible here.

Luka: Loveless. 

Do you think Loveless is properly rated? What is it about that record that has translated through time? 

Luka: I think it is properly "rated“—it’s pretty much considered the most iconic shoegaze album of all time and rightfully so.

When you were working on this record, what was your number one studio snack? 

Andrea: Mate!! 

Luka: Andrea used to bring different flavors every session, sometimes ginger, sometimes pomegranate.