Review
Genre and Mood
Alok and Bruno Martini made Hear Me Now with the singer Zeeba, and it became the song the world knows Alok by. It sits between Brazilian bass, house and indie pop, and its label introduced it not with a beat but with a guitar lick, melodic chords and a flute. The mood is nostalgic and heartfelt, and in the end uplifting, especially once you have seen the video.
Song Summary
As its title says, Hear Me Now is a plea to be heard, sung by Zeeba. Spinnin’ Records, which released it on 21 October 2016, described its sound as a smooth guitar lick and melodic chords, enhanced by a flute. The blog Noiseporn filed it under Brazilian bass, and it is also listed as house and indie pop: a dance record that also found its way onto pop radio. All three artists share the writing credit, and Alok and Martini produced it.
Musical Breakdown
Intro
The official video runs longer than the 3:12 single, so in the video the song comes framed by its story.
Verse 1
Listen to how the verse sets Zeeba’s vocal against the production, and which of the two carries the melody.
Chorus
The hook pairs the vocal with the guitar lick and the chords Spinnin’ singled out, with the flute adding colour.
Outro
Notice how the song ends, and compare it with the 5:34 club edit released alongside it.
Concepts in Focus
The music video, written and directed by Caio Amantini and Rapha Pampiona, is what most people met the song through. A grown man travels to his parents’ home and relives memories with his father, then wakes in the taxi: it was a dream, and he runs to hug his father. By January 2026 the video had passed 673 million views. It gives a plea to be heard a second meaning, about family and time.
Zeeba is a <a href=“https://korczis.github.io/sonic-playground/concept/featured-artist/” class=“concept-link font-medium text-primary-700 underline decoration-dotted underline-offset-4 hover:decoration-solid dark:text-primary-400” data-concept=“featured-artist” title=“A guest performer credited on another artist’s track, usually as “feat.”: a rapper’s verse, a singer’s hook or a second voice. Features bring together different styles and audiences and are central to hip-hop, R&B and dance music.“>featured artist: the Brazilian-American singer is credited after the two producers, as is usual in dance music, though the voice is what listeners remember. Zeeba is also a co-writer, which is not always the case for a featured singer.
The track’s success brought a long line of versions. Each remix rebuilds the song for a different floor: Spinnin’ released a radio mix by EDX and Nora En Pure in March 2017, and in October 2023 a remix EP with new versions by Alok and by Martini themselves.
Artistic Context
Alok, born Alok Achkar Peres Petrillo in Goiânia in 1991, is the son of the DJs Swarup and Ekanta, pioneers of psytrance in Brazil and founders of the Universo Paralello festival in Bahia; his name means light in Sanskrit. House Mag had named him the best DJ in Brazil in 2014 and 2015; Hear Me Now made him a name worldwide. Since 2021 he has ranked fourth in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs four years running, and third in 2025.
Impact and Reception
The song reached number 6 on Billboard Brasil’s pop airplay chart and charted across Europe: number 14 in Finland, 40 in Austria and Denmark, 50 in France and Germany, and number 7 on the Czech radio chart. It is here because it shows that a dance hit can be tender. Watch the video to the end, then play the song again without it.
