Dr. Don didn’t got down to write a track about psychological well being challenges. He was simply following the identical artistic rhythm that had outlined a lot of his current work, the alternating quick and sluggish, quick and lengthy, letting his piano information the melody earlier than layering in bass and an artificial violin known as La Pesque. Escape Actuality was meant to be a quiet counterbalance to the upbeat, radio-ready Dominated by Time, his quickest track thus far.
The title got here to him after dozens of failed concepts. It felt proper. Easy, grounded, a bit evasive. He began recording on June 21. The lyrics got here on June 30.
“I assumed this was turning out fairly darkish,” Dr. Don shared in an e-mail.
A Bridge Towards One thing Higher
The track doesn’t flinch from unhappiness. It opens with traces about life and ache, about how straightforward it’s to fake to be okay whereas quietly unraveling. However then one thing shifts. Within the bridge, the narrator regains management. The lyrics don’t preach or pander. They merely level to a unique ending.
“At the moment, luck gonna change,” he sings. “Not my method or the freeway.”
It’s a flip, written into the chords as if Dr. Don is aware of somebody wants to listen to it.
His drummer, Matt, introduced his personal grief to the observe. After shedding an in depth pal, Matt recorded the percussion with that reminiscence in thoughts. There’s ache within the rhythm when you pay attention for it.
And there may be hope, too.
Stunning Vibes Was the Reply He Wanted Subsequent
Nonetheless, Dr. Don couldn’t depart his listeners, not to mention himself, in that emotional fog. So, he pivoted. Stunning Vibes is the sort of track that wraps itself round you want daylight. Upbeat, melodic, and deeply human, it opens with a easy thought: kindness is free, and it issues greater than most issues.
“Value nothing to do / Suppose stunning vibes / Proper over to you / I ship stunning vibes,” he sings within the refrain.
The place Escape Actuality lingers within the ache of uncertainty, Stunning Vibes affords readability: neighborhood issues, friendship heals, music lifts.
The 2 songs had been recorded simply days aside in July 2025 and launched collectively as a sort of emotional diptych. One observe for the sleepless nights. One for the mornings that also really feel doable.
A Musician Who Writes the Manner He Lives
There’s a rawness to Dr. Don’s work that makes it arduous to look away. He doesn’t write to impress. He writes to grasp. His lyrics land someplace between journal entries and late-night confessions. The impact is intimate, like receiving a voice word from somebody who really means it once they ask how you might be doing.
He has mentioned that he cried for the primary time whereas writing down the lyrics to the track. And but he nonetheless completed it. Nonetheless handed it over to Matt. Nonetheless launched it to the world.
Dr. Don has no want for manufactured drama. His actual life is greater than sufficient. What he affords as a substitute is presence. With over 115,000 subscribers on YouTube and a rising catalog of genre-crossing songs, he’s quietly constructing one thing uncommon: music that resonates as a result of it’s unguarded.
From Studio to Soul Work
Behind each piano riff and baritone hook is somebody attempting to make sense of life, the one method he is aware of how. Some days it feels like Feeling Lazy or I’ll Pay attention. Currently, it feels like Escape Actuality and Stunning Vibes—two songs that would not be extra totally different; launched collectively as a result of that’s how feelings really work.
One minute, you might be scuffling with psychological well being challenges. The subsequent, you might be smiling at a stranger. Life isn’t only one factor.
Dr. Don is aware of this. He doesn’t simply write about it. He lives it.
