Harrison Patrick Smith (born March 19, 1996),[1] known professionally as The Dare and formerly as Turtlenecked, is an American singer and musician. He is best known for his single "Girls", released in August 2022,[2] and for producing the song "Guess" by Charli XCX from the deluxe version of her 2024 album Brat.
After performing indie music as Turtlenecked in the Pacific Northwest, Smith moved to New York City and began writing songs as the Dare. Following the releases of the singles "Girls" and "Good Time", Smith signed with Republic Records and on May 19, 2023, released The Sex EP to mixed reviews. In 2024, he released What's Wrong with New York?, his debut studio album as The Dare, to largely positive reviews.
Harrison Patrick Smith was born in West Hollywood, Los Angeles,[8][9] and grew up in Woodinville, a suburb of Seattle.[10] His mother is a psychotherapist, and his late father was a medical devices salesman.[11] As a child, he played violin and guitar and read about fashion.[3] He later moved to Portland to attend Lewis & Clark College, where he studied English literature.[12]
Career
Turtlenecked
In 2014, while attending Lewis & Clark College, Smith formed a musical project called Turtlenecked, which developed a cult following in the Pacific Northwest.[13][3] His debut album, Pure Plush Bone Cage, was released in August 2016. Pitchfork's Ian Cohen rated their second album Vulture (2017) a 6.0/10, saying that Smith is "capable of penning voice-of-a-generation quotables" while also criticizing some of his lyricism as "insufferable".[14] On April 27, 2018, the group released an EP, High Scores of the Heart, which NPR's Jerad Walker praised for being "so polished that you might be surprised to find out that he is still just an undergrad."[13] Smith moved to New York City in 2017, where he continued performing with Turtlenecked.[3] He also worked as a waiter and guitar teacher in the area.[7]
After COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased, Smith resumed performing gigs with Turtlenecked.[3] Until December 2022, Smith worked as a substitute teacher at a private school in the West Village neighborhood of New York City.[3] He moonlighted as a DJ, hosting a semi-weekly party called Freakquencies at the Lower East Side dive bar Home Sweet Home,[3][5] and hosted afterparties for fashion brands Celine and Gucci.[5] Smith released his final projects as Turtlenecked, the album Kapow! and the EP Cherish, in 2020.[12]
The Dare
During the pandemic, Smith created self-described "goofy" songs to send to his friends. One night, inspired by the Rolling Stones album Some Girls, Smith created the song "Girls", which would become his first single as The Dare.[3] He played it at Turtlenecked shows, and noticed that the crowd received it well even though it was more frenetic and thematically light than the indie music he typically made.[3] Smith officially released the song in August 2022, calling it "a rejection of the last five years of music" which he felt had become overly serious.[3]Jon Caramanica of The New York Times named "Girls" as the fifth best song of 2022, calling it "[e]pically silly and epically debauched".[15]
In March 2023, Smith released a second single, "Good Time".[16] The next month, after a bidding war with several major labels, Smith was signed with Republic Records.[3]The Sex EP, Smith's first EP as the Dare, was released May 19, 2023, to mixed reviews.[17] In June 2023, it was announced that the Dare would join the U.S. west coast leg of artist Yves Tumor's international tour.[18]
In June 2024 the Dare joined Charli XCX as the opening act of her three-date North American tour in support of Brat.[19] In August the remix of Charli XCX's song "Guess", featuring Billie Eilish and produced by the Dare alongside Finneas, debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart.[20]
The Dare's debut studio album, What's Wrong with New York?, was released on September 6, 2024 via Republic and Polydor Records to positive reviews.[21][22][23]
Reception
English singer Charli XCX praised "Girls" in a 2022 interview, saying it "goes off at parties";[24] the two later collaborated on "Guess" for the deluxe edition of her 2024 album Brat.[25] The Dare later performed as the opening act for the Brooklyn date of Charli XCX's Brat tour in June 2024.[26] His musical style has frequently been compared to LCD Soundsystem,[b]the Rapture,[c] and Peaches.[d]
In a critical review in Pitchfork, Sophie Kemp compared The Dare to LMFAO and claimed his schtick "looks better on a T-shirt than in a song, where its snarkiness is a little exhausting".[27]
Personal life
As of July 2023, Smith lived in an apartment in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In a profile for GQ, Samuel Hine described him as "a little shy", unlike his stage persona. Smith calls himself a "huge music nerd" and said he struggled with anxiety and hypochondria when he moved to New York City.[3]
