Bentley Robles & ZEE MACHINE, LOCK ME UP! | Song Review

Bentley Robles and ZEE MACHINE team up as TEARS & GEARZ on the brief, bright, and entertaining pop single, “LOCK ME UP!”. 

So, what happens when Bentley Robles (Bruno Pazzi Robles, he/him pronouns) and ZEE MACHINE (Joe Bissell, he/they pronouns) collaborate? Why, TEARS & GEARZ, of course! Also, sheer queer musical excellence! TEARS & GEARZ presents a short but sweet ditty entitled “LOCK ME UP!” that’s locked in from the beginning.  Robles, Joe Bissell, and producer FLORIO (Dominic Florio) penned “LOCK ME UP!” From a sound perspective, the music backdrop is bright.  The keyboards and synths are scintillating, while the groove ‘kicks ass and takes names.’ “LOCK ME UP!” ‘locks up’ the fact you’ll be moving your body and grooving hard to it.

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Robles kicks things off with fabulous singing including ripe falsetto.  He shows off the rhythmic, tuneful nature of the melody, which is constructed with great contour. “Gonna light a match in your apartment,” he sings, adding, “And then smile at the flames.” Whoa! During the pre-chorus, the melody remains tuneful, growing more rhythmic (“‘Cause I can’t even look up at the city / Knowing it won’t have us”). As for ZEE MACHINE, he ‘brings the heat’ in the second verse. Here, Bissell provides contrast while (1) upping the ante and (2) also impressing with some sickening falsetto (“It doesn’t feel like no coincidence / I’ve been in heaven every day that you’ve been gone”).  The section to beat is the chorus:

“Someone lock me up

This heartbreak has got me drunk

Don’t know how to get unstuck

Erasing where it was, giving me some kind of rush

I won’t get enough, ‘til there’s nothing left but dust

Nothing left of us.”

Oh, snap! All said and done, ‘TEARS & GEARZ’ entice our ears with the brief but entertaining and potent “LOCK ME UP!”. Can you say #SLAY!

Bentley Robles, ZEE MACHINE & TEARS & GEARZ // “LOCK ME UP!” // Bentley Robles Music // 2.6.25

[: Bentley Robles Music]