South Florida-born singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Q Marsden releases his highly anticipated sophomore album, DO YOU SEE ME? via Columbia Records.
Written and produced by Q alongside collaborators including Romil Hemnani and Jacob Olofsson, DO YOU SEE ME? is an immersive portrait of a mind learning to embrace itself. Drawing from soul, jazz, funk, R&B, and experimental pop, the 15-track album explores the fragile space between internal experience and external reality, moving fluidly between moments of tenderness, anxiety, humor, and wonder. Using shifting structures, layered vocal performances, and unexpected turns, Q’s songwriting mirrors the way thoughts collide, overlap, resolve. He is joined by Deb Never, Marco McKinnis, and UMI, whose guest appearances broaden the album’s sonic palette while remaining firmly rooted in his singular vision. The project includes previously released singles “hey there [i have a compulsive complex]” and “i wish you were here,” both of which introduced listeners to the album’s expansive world ahead of its release.
DO YOU SEE ME? was created during one of the most transformative periods of Q’s life. After being diagnosed with schizophrenia, he stopped trying to suppress or rationalize the thoughts that had shaped his perspective for years, instead allowing them to guide the music. The result is an album that doesn’t impose order onto his thoughts, rather it embraces competing thoughts and emotions as building blocks. Songs unfold less like linear narratives than streams of consciousness, with voices drifting in and out, harmonizing, interrupting, and at times arguing with one another. Instead of documenting his diagnosis, the album explores what it feels like to stop searching for certainty and begin making peace with complexity.
Raised in South Florida, Q first broke through with his gold-certified single “Take Me Where Your Heart Is,” earning acclaim for his emotionally rich songwriting and virtuosic musicianship. His debut album Soul,PRESENT established him as a remarkable new voice, with each subsequent release pulling listeners deeper into a musical universe he has largely built himself. As his first full-length project since Soul,PRESENT, DO YOU SEE ME? lands as Q’s most adventurous album, transforming years of introspection into his most expansive and fully realized work to date.
