2LØT’s “Iris” turns a studio spark into a soulful statement of self-recognition

Some songs announce their ambition immediately. Others reveal it through the way they were made. “Iris,” the new single from 2LØT featuring Eric Krasno, belongs to the second category. Its message is clear enough on first listen, but the track gains dimension once you hear how many moving parts had to fall into place.

The song began during a week-long writing retreat at Matt Sorum’s Good Noise Studio in Palm Springs, where 2LØT worked through spontaneous creative pairings. Bassist Robert Trusko and drummer Omar Jahwar II developed the rhythmic base first. Then a tempo shift, influenced by J Dilla, caught Rudy Love Jr.’s ear and led him to write a verse almost immediately. That origin gives “Iris” a natural sense of discovery.



You can hear that in the song’s movement. It begins with a warm pulse and gradually unfolds into a brighter, funkier space. The transition does not feel like a trick. It feels like the band following a path and realizing the second room is where the song needed to go.

Eric Krasno’s guitar work helps define that space. His playing is soulful and textured, with wah tones that bring out the funk elements Trusko has mentioned in discussing the collaboration. Krasno does not overwhelm the song. He gives it extra contour, the way a guest should when the song already has a clear personality.

Ben Bohorquez and Evan Weiss of The Funky Knuckles add another layer with horn parts that support the hook and widen the song’s palette. In combination, the guitar and horns push “Iris” toward classic soul and jazz-funk territory, while 2LØT’s broader Electronic Jam Music approach keeps the arrangement rooted in the present. The band sounds comfortable letting several traditions speak at once.

The lyric “Iris, you know how beautiful you are” sits at the center of the track. Trusko has described it as a line about self-discovery, self-reflection, and recognizing your own value. That idea fits neatly into the larger shape of RE/SOLVE, 2LØT’s sophomore album, which vocalist Rudy Love Jr. describes through a mythic lens of transformation and self-actualization. “Iris” translates that framework into something accessible and song-sized.

RE/SOLVE arrives July 31 with a sizable cast of collaborators, including Jon Batiste, Robert Randolph, Elise Trouw, Cameron McCloud, Frank Moka, Mariel Jacoda, and others. “Iris” may be one of the album’s lighter emotional moments, but it does not feel slight. It offers a useful reminder that healing, in music, does not always need to sound solemn. Sometimes it sounds like players locking in and letting a chorus land.