There is a particular kind of longing that refuses to stay quiet. It follows you through ordinary moments, resurfaces when you least expect it, and somehow makes distance feel even more present. Sydney-based composer and artist Archie Tulk transforms that restless feeling into something vibrant and strangely beautiful with his new single, “White Bee,” arriving October 2 ahead of his debut album, Human Noise, due November 27.
Rather than treating longing as purely melancholic, Tulk gives it movement. “White Bee” feels like an emotional thought loop translated into sound; a song about someone who may be physically absent but remains impossible to shake from your mind. That idea becomes especially effective because the track itself seems to have a restless pulse, constantly buzzing and shifting beneath its intimate surface.
Tulk’s background as a composer is immediately apparent, but “White Bee” never feels like an exercise in complexity for complexity’s sake. Instead, his experience with orchestral writing becomes part of the song’s personality. Jazz, art-pop and classical textures collide naturally, creating a track that feels sophisticated without losing its emotional accessibility.
At the center is Tulk’s velvety baritone, which provides a grounding presence against the constantly changing instrumentation. Piano and drums move in clipped, unpredictable patterns, giving the song a playful rhythmic quality that keeps listeners slightly off balance. Rather than following a completely straightforward pop structure, the arrangement seems to wander, pause and suddenly redirect itself much like the thoughts that inspired it.
Then come the strings, winds and harp, expanding the track into something much larger. These orchestral elements don’t simply decorate the song; they create an atmosphere around it. There is a sense of spaciousness within “White Bee,” but that expansiveness never eliminates the intimacy at its core.
The most compelling aspect of “White Bee” is its central metaphor. Tulk takes the idea of a buzzing sound and turns it into an embodiment of romantic obsession and distance. The recurring buzz becomes the musical equivalent of a thought that keeps returning no matter how hard you try to redirect your attention.
That makes the song’s subject matter feel tangible. Long-distance relationships can create an unusual emotional contradiction: someone isn’t physically there, yet they can occupy an enormous amount of mental space. “White Bee” captures that sensation without turning the song into a straightforward love ballad.
Instead, the arrangement mirrors the uncertainty and excitement of yearning. The rhythm has a playful quality, while the orchestration gives the track a sense of grandeur. Tulk’s vocal delivery keeps everything from becoming too distant or overly theatrical, pulling the listener back toward the personal story underneath the elaborate instrumentation.
There is something almost cinematic about the way the track balances those extremes. One moment feels close and conversational; the next opens into a much broader sonic landscape. That push and pull becomes one of the song’s defining characteristics. “White Bee” also demonstrates how effectively Tulk can bring his compositional background into a contemporary songwriting format. The song isn’t confined to one genre, and that fluidity is part of what makes it memorable. Jazz gives it rhythmic personality, art-pop provides its adventurous edge, and orchestral instrumentation gives the track an expansive emotional vocabulary.
Yet beneath all of that is a remarkably simple feeling: missing someone. That simplicity is important. The song doesn’t need to overwhelm the listener with its arrangements because the emotional idea is already strong enough. Instead, the instrumentation continually finds new ways to express it.
The accompanying video reinforces that contrast. Moving between an expansive field and the more intimate atmosphere of a dimly lit jazz bar, the visual world reflects the same relationship between openness and closeness that exists within the song. Tulk performs alongside violinists and a saxophonist, giving the clip a performance-driven quality while allowing the unusual instrumentation to remain part of the story.
“White Bee” is an inventive and emotionally warm introduction to Archie Tulk’s upcoming Human Noise era. It takes a familiar feeling—being unable to stop thinking about someone and surrounds it with an arrangement that feels anything but ordinary. The result is a song that doesn’t simply describe longing; it recreates the sensation of it. The buzzing motif, restless percussion, intimate vocals and sweeping orchestration all contribute to the feeling of having someone constantly circling your thoughts.
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