When I think of The Ready Set, I flashback to my middle school self: sitting on the floor of a friend’s room, texting friends, talking about crushes, all set to a soundtrack of the top pop songs of 2010. We played “Love Like Woe” on repeat, every single time.

Now, Jordan Witzigreuter returns with a new album and and a new tour, which captivates my youthful energy while also touching my more introspective and adult sensitivities. Along with the songs, The Ready Set uploaded “music videos” to the Hopeless Records YouTube channel so “if you don't have Spotify, or you didn't buy the songs on iTunes, you can listen to them on YouTube AND watch [Jordan] flail around.”

I had the pleasure of asking Jordan about The Ready Set’s newest musical feat and the difference in the vibe from the classic pop sound of early 2010 to a more sultry pop feel.

The music videos for your new album are really cool, how did you come up with the concept and color scheme?

I just wanted them to be something to watch rather than a static image if people are listening to the songs on YouTube. I think people sort of misconstrued these as actual "official" videos when they definitely are not. They're just meant to be something more interesting to look at than single art or something.

Is there a reason for not going with narrative videos? I think it's rad but an interesting choice against the backdrop of current music videos that are almost like short movies.

I think for actual music videos I'd be into that, but these are almost more like moving paintings... Up to personal interpretation- maybe they mean something, maybe they don't! I want to do something narrative but I need to make sure I have a story in my head. I wouldn't want to go into something like that halfway planned. It's gotta be fully there conceptually.

After listening the whole album, I think "First" is my favorite track, is there a song that you connected most with when you wrote it, has that changed now when you perform it?

Thanks! That one was one of the final songs I did. I'm glad to hear that ones going over well with people- I went about it in a more "dance" way where I wanted the track to be more of a focus than the vocals. My favorite, or the one I connect most with is "Disappearing Act". It definitely makes it mean a little more when we play it live. It's like when you really truly believe every word you're singing, and it's not just a story or something, it adds another level of excitement to it.

The album has a really exciting summer, electronic pop feel, but it's a bit more introspective than your previous albums. Was that an organic progression, or did you consciously decide that you wanted to change your tone?

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I spent a lot of time writing really uplifting stuff, and maybe some of this album is that, ultimately, but at a certain point it feels like "who am I trying to convince?" Everyone is allowed to feel bummed out, so my way of projecting something other than my standard upbeat vibe was this album. It still sounds happy which makes me stoked. I always loved poppy sounding stuff with a little darker message- stuff like The Cure, and a lot of 80's pop resonates with that feeling. A couple years ago, I was visiting a magazine and one of the editors told me "I feel like you have a lot to say still and I'm excited to see what that sounds like". This album is the first chunk of what I've been wanting to do for a while now.

Thanks for your time and congrats on the new album and tour!

Thank you! Gonna be a fun year. Thanks for having me!

Check out The Ready Set on tour as they join EMBLEM 3 on May 28th at Irving Plaza in NYC.