Winter & Eyedress 'nicotine': The Decade-in-the-Making Dream-Pop Collaboration That Defines 2026

When Two of Indie's Most Beloved Voices Finally Meet

There's a moment in Winter and Eyedress's new collaborative single "nicotine" where Samira Winter's cigarette-glazed vocal curls around Idris Vicuña's trademark murmur like smoke caught in hallway light. The song, released September 18, 2026 as part of Winter's new EP Romantix Mixtape via Winspear, is already being hailed as one of the most quietly devastating indie collaborations of the year — and one that nearly didn't happen.

For years, the two artists orbited each other within Los Angeles' tightly knit DIY scene. They shared stages, mutual collaborators, and a sonic sensibility rooted in lo-fi intimacy and emotional transparency. But it wasn't until Winter was deep in the sessions for Romantix Mixtape — her follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2025 LP Adult Romantix — that the timing finally aligned. The result is a track that feels less like a feature and more like a conversation between two artists who've been waiting a decade to finish each other's sentences.

For anyone who's followed the dream-pop and bedroom-pop underground, this collaboration feels both inevitable and overdue. Winter — the project of Brazilian-American songwriter Samira Winter — has been a mainstay of LA's DIY rock community since 2013. Eyedress — the alias of Filipino musician Idris Vicuña — has been on a parallel trajectory since his early bedroom recordings in Manila caught the attention of XL Recordings, ultimately producing viral gold-certified hits like "Jealous" and "Something About You" that soundtracked the pandemic-era indie revival. Together, they represent two halves of the same coin: Winter's shoegaze-soaked vulnerability meeting Eyedress's smoke-ring atmospherics.

"nicotine": A Farewell Letter Set to Tape Echo

The track opens with Winter's characteristic tape-warped guitar tone before Vicuña's voice enters like a second consciousness surfacing through the mix. Production by Joo Joo Ashworth — who has worked with Winter across multiple releases — is appropriately hazy: icy breakbeats, swirling reverb tails, and low-end warmth that recalls the trip-hop textures of Portishead and Massive Attack as much as it does the coastal dream-pop of Beach House. Vicuña co-mixed, lending it the same dusky atmosphere that defined his breakthrough work on Let's Skip to the Wedding.

"I initially wrote this song as a farewell to nicotine, which also inspired the music video," Winter shared in an exclusive statement to PaperMedia. "Really had a blast finishing up the track with Eyedress, who is an artist I've wanted to collaborate with for some time."

That sense of farewell is woven into every layer of the track. The guitar tone — processed through a vintage tape echo — has the quality of something fading, like the last drag of a cigarette held too long. Winter's vocal delivery is breathy and unguarded, while Eyedress's contribution arrives in the second verse as a murmur so close to the microphone it feels like he's in the room. The chorus, where their voices overlap for the first time, is the track's emotional center of gravity — a moment so intimate it feels almost invasive to listen to.

The music video, directed by bee eyes and edited by Eyedress himself, mirrors the song's duality — raw, flash-lit, intimate, with a lo-fi film aesthetic recalling Mac DeMarco's early output and the visual language of early-'90s indie cinema. Watch the official video on YouTube.

The Studio Sessions: How "nicotine" Came Together

The collaboration was born out of mutual admiration that had been building for years. Winter and Eyedress first crossed paths in the LA DIY scene — they shared mutual friends, played the same venues, and moved within the same creative orbit centered around Echo Park and Silver Lake. But scheduling, creative momentum, and the simple inertia of being independent artists on opposite trajectories kept the collaboration in the realm of "someday" until late 2025.

Winter had written "nicotine" as a solo track during the Adult Romantix sessions. The song — a bittersweet meditation on addiction, departure, and the things we hold onto long after they stop serving us — felt complete but unfinished. It needed a second voice. Not a feature in the traditional sense, but a presence — someone who could inhabit the song's emotional space without disrupting its fragile equilibrium.

"Idris was the only person I could hear on it," Winter explained. "His voice exists in this register that's somehow both distant and immediate. It's like he's whispering from across the room but you can feel his breath."

The sessions took place at Joo Joo Ashworth's studio in Los Angeles over two days. Eyedress recorded his parts in a single take — a characteristic of his approach that prioritizes feel over perfection. The co-mixing process was collaborative: Winter shaped the guitar tones and vocal arrangements, while Vicuña brought his ear for atmosphere and low-end weight. The result is a track that feels neither like a Winter song with an Eyedress feature, nor an Eyedress song with a Winter feature — it exists in a third space that belongs to both of them equally.

Who Is Winter? The Brazilian-American Voice Behind the Dream-Pop Underground

Born in Curitiba, Brazil — a city she has called "the Seattle of Brazil" for its rain-soaked, introspective atmosphere — Winter grew up straddling two cultures. She began writing songs at age 12 and played in her first bands in Boston before relocating to Los Angeles in 2013, where she formed the band Winter with guitarist Nolan Eley, bassist Kyle Oppenheimer, and drummer Ana Karina. For over a decade, her Echo Park basement hosted countless shows — a grassroots venue that became a cornerstone of the neighborhood's independent music scene. Her 2020 debut Endless Space (Between You & I) and 2022's What Kind of Blue Are You?, both released on the pioneering indie label Bar/None Records, established her signature blend of shoegaze, dream pop, and bilingual songwriting. The latter was "a total reset" — a dark, healing record that cemented her unique musical language and marked her transition from bedroom-pop ingénue to serious songwriter.

Her 2025 full-length Adult Romantix — her Winspear debut — marked her most fully realized statement. Written during her coast-to-coast move from LA to NYC, the 13-track album is "a tunnel of summers and memories," inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, '90s rom-coms, Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped, Elliott Smith, Dean Blunt, and California shoegaze. Dubbed "a shimmering shoegaze fantasy worthy of soundtracking the next coming-of-age indie film" by The Boston Globe, the LP was praised by The FADER, Paste, NPR, KEXP, Clash, The Line Of Best Fit, and Stereogum. In support of the record, Winter embarked on headline tours across the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, and Europe, including performances at Pitchfork London Festival and Indieplaza Festival.

What sets Winter apart in the dream-pop landscape is her refusal to hide behind atmosphere. Where many artists in the genre use reverb and distortion as a shield — a way to obscure vulnerability — Winter uses them as a lens. Her lyrics are specific, her melodies are deliberate, and her voice, even at its most effects-soaked, carries an emotional directness that cuts through the haze. She cites Elliott Smith as a formative influence, and like Smith, her songs work as well stripped to a single acoustic guitar as they do in full shoegaze regalia.

Stream Winter on Spotify or Bandcamp, and follow on Instagram.

Who Is Eyedress? From Manila to Silver Lake

Idris Ennolandy Vicuña, born May 28, 1990 in Manila, Philippines, began playing guitar young. He was raised in a neighborhood he described as "ghetto" and was introduced to punk music through the "gangsters" and "anarchist types" in his area. His family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, then to Orange County, California (his father, an animator, worked with 20th Century Fox on major Hollywood productions), where he joined the crust punk band Liberal Underground as a bassist. The family moved back to the Philippines when he was 15. Before music, he briefly designed clothing. At 20, he started making beats on his laptop using FL Studio — a modest setup that would eventually produce some of the most streamed indie tracks of the 2020s. After gaining a following from making beats, a collaboration with Filipino singer Skint Eastwood on the song "Biolumine" earned him attention from a French label, which led to a record deal with Abeano Records, a subsidiary of XL Recordings. His debut EP Supernatural was released December 2, 2013, followed by the mixtape Hearing Colors (April 2014). He signed with Lex Records in 2016, releasing his debut studio album Manila Ice (May 2017) and Sensitive G (November 2018).

Relocating to LA's Silver Lake catalyzed his breakthrough. Singles from Let's Skip to the Wedding (2020) — "Jealous" and "Romantic Lover" — went viral on TikTok, soundtracking millions of videos and becoming anthems of the pandemic-era indie revival. "Jealous" was certified gold in Australia, Canada, Poland, and the US in 2021, platinum in the US in March 2022, and ultimately 2× Platinum in March 2023 — a remarkable achievement for an artist who started making beats in a Manila bedroom. "Romantic Lover" was certified gold in the US in April 2022 and Platinum in March 2023. "Something About You" from Mulholland Drive (2021) was certified gold in the US in May 2022. In January 2022, Eyedress hit #35 on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart — a position that, for an artist operating outside the major-label system, felt like validation of a different kind.

What makes Eyedress's success remarkable is that it happened almost entirely outside the traditional music industry apparatus. He didn't have a major-label marketing campaign, a radio push, or a high-profile sync placement. He had a laptop, a guitar, and an instinct for writing songs that feel like 3 AM confessions. His voice — a drowsy, half-spoken murmur that sits somewhere between Mac DeMarco and King Krule — became one of the most recognizable sounds in independent music. His collaborators include King Krule, who remixed "Jealous" (the "Nothing Special" remix, released in 2021 and described by Northern Transmissions as the work of a "frequent collaborator"), Mac DeMarco (with whom he released the singles "The Dark Prince" and "My Simple Jeep"), Zzzahara (as The Simps, releasing the album Siblings on Lex Records in February 2022), Nosaj Thing (featured on "Different Life" from the album Continua), and a Kevin Shields remix of "House of Cards" released in January 2023 as part of the Lex-XX remix series. In February 2023, RCA Records released "Flowers & Chocolate," his first major-label single, with a music video directed by filmmaker Eddie Huang. His fifth studio album, Full Time Lover (August 2022), spanned 28 tracks across hip-hop, post-punk, and shoegaze. Follow Eyedress on Instagram.

Inside the Sound: Deconstructing "nicotine"

To understand why "nicotine" resonates so deeply, it helps to break down what's actually happening in the track. The song is built on three foundational layers: Winter's tape-warped guitar, which provides the harmonic backbone; a breakbeat-inspired drum pattern that gives the track its trip-hop lean; and the vocal interplay between Winter and Eyedress, which transforms the song from a solo meditation into a dialogue.

The guitar tone is worth dwelling on. Winter processes her guitar through a tape echo — an analog effect that degrades the signal with each repeat, creating a sound that feels both warm and decaying. It's the sonic equivalent of a fading photograph: the image is still there, but the edges are soft, the colors muted. This isn't an accident. Winter has spoken about her fascination with the way analog equipment imparts imperfection — the way a tape machine warps pitch, the way a spring reverb creates ghosts of the original sound. On "nicotine," this aesthetic serves the song's thematic core: the idea of something you love that's slowly killing you, captured in a sound that's slowly dissolving.

Eyedress's vocal enters at the one-minute mark. His voice is mixed low — not buried, but present, like a thought that surfaces unbidden. He doesn't so much sing his lines as exhale them. The effect is disarming. Where Winter's vocal is melodic and structured, Vicuña's is free-form and conversational. Together, they create a tension that mirrors the song's subject matter: the push and pull of addiction, the way a habit becomes a companion, the way saying goodbye to something harmful still feels like loss.

The production, handled by Joo Joo Ashworth, deserves special mention. Ashworth — a fixture of the LA DIY scene — has developed a signature sound that bridges the gap between lo-fi intimacy and studio clarity. His work on "nicotine" is defined by restraint. There's no unnecessary polish, no over-compression, no artificial width. Every element sits exactly where it should. The drums hit hard but feel close, like they're in the room with you. The bass is warm and round. The guitars shimmer without overwhelming. And the vocals — both Winter's and Eyedress's — are presented with a transparency that makes the emotional weight of the lyrics impossible to escape.

The Romantix Mixtape: A Collaborative Statement

After spending much of 2025 on the road supporting an album inspired by nostalgia, Winter revisited the songs in the form of Romantix Mixtape (Sept 18, 2026, via Winspear) — a six-track collection built from the same world as Adult Romantix, including reimagined songs, reworked demo versions, b-side tracks, and never-before-heard material:

1. hollow — reworked album deep cut with up-tempo lift
2. nicotine w. Eyedress — moody, trip-hop-inspired co-write
3. hide-a-lullaby w. Peel Dream Magazine
4. without you w. Soccer Mommy — soft and dreamy duet version
5. candy #9 (mixtape version) — reworked with new sonic palette
6. infinito mar — slow-burning lullaby sung in Portuguese, calling back to Winter's Brazilian roots

The presence of Eyedress, Peel Dream Magazine, and Soccer Mommy signals Winter is building a collaborative network at the center of a dream-pop renaissance. These aren't transactional features — each collaboration stems from genuine creative relationships and shared sensibilities. Soccer Mommy's contribution to "without you" transforms the track into a soft, dreamy duet that showcases both artists' melodic instincts. Peel Dream Magazine's appearance on "hide-a-lullaby" brings a psych-pop edge that pushes Winter's sound into new territory. And "infinito mar," sung entirely in Portuguese, is perhaps the EP's most personal moment — a lullaby that connects Winter's present-day artistry to her Brazilian childhood.

Stream the full EP on Spotify, Bandcamp, or YouTube. Limited-edition red cassette (200 copies) via Winspear.

The Mac DeMarco Connection: Why This Matters

Mac DeMarco defined the 2010s bedroom-pop aesthetic. Eyedress has collaborated with Mac DeMarco directly — releasing two singles, "The Dark Prince" and "My Simple Jeep," both with official music videos on YouTube. Winter's visual and sonic identity exists in the same universe. But where DeMarco built on jangly charm and Eyedress on dusky atmosphere, Winter brings what the scene often lacks: emotional depth that doesn't flinch.

That's what makes "nicotine" more than a collaboration — it's a meeting of two philosophies. Eyedress brings the atmosphere; Winter brings the gravity. The result is both effortless and essential. It's the rare collaboration where neither artist compromises their identity, and the song is richer for it. In an era where features are often transactional — a streaming play, a cross-pollination of audiences — "nicotine" feels like two artists who genuinely admire each other's work finding common ground and building something that belongs to neither of them alone.

The Visual Language: Music Video as Confessional

The music video for "nicotine," directed by bee eyes and edited by Eyedress, is as much a part of the song's emotional architecture as the music itself. Shot on what appears to be a combination of digital and Super 8 film, the video is a collage of intimate, flash-lit moments — Winter smoking, laughing, looking away from the camera — interspersed with blurred, dreamlike sequences that feel like memories surfacing and dissolving.

There's a deliberate rawness to the footage. Nothing is lit beautifully. Nothing is staged. The aesthetic is closer to a home movie than a music video, and that's precisely the point. The song is about addiction and farewell, and the video captures the texture of those experiences: the way a cigarette feels between your fingers at 2 AM, the way smoke catches light, the way saying goodbye to a habit feels like saying goodbye to a version of yourself.

Eyedress's involvement in the editing process is significant. As an artist who has directed and edited many of his own videos, he brings a visual sensibility that mirrors his musical one: favoring mood over narrative, atmosphere over plot. The result is a video that doesn't tell a story so much as create a feeling — one that lingers long after the final frame.

The Winspear Connection: Why Label Choice Matters

Winter's move to Winspear Records for Adult Romantix and Romantix Mixtape is worth noting. Winspear — a boutique label known for its curated roster of dream-pop, shoegaze, and indie rock — has positioned itself as a home for artists who prioritize craft over virality. The label's willingness to support a six-track EP of reimagined material, collaborations, and a Portuguese-language closer speaks to a philosophy that values artistic vision over commercial formula.

Eyedress, too, has found a home at Winspear, and the shared label infrastructure has likely facilitated the organic creative connection that led to "nicotine." In an industry where major labels increasingly dictate creative direction through data-driven A&R, Winspear's artist-first approach feels like a quiet rebellion — one that's producing some of the most authentic collaborative work in independent music.

Why This Track Defines 2026's Indie Underground

The indie landscape of 2026 is fragmented. Listeners want depth, longevity, and authenticity. Winter and Eyedress both mean it. Neither arrived through algorithm or opportunism — they arrived through a decade of parallel evolution. "nicotine" is that moment of convergence.

In a year that has seen Men I Trust, Soccer Mommy, and Peel Dream Magazine release career-defining work, "nicotine" stands out not because it's louder, but because it's more honest. It's a song about letting go of something you love, sung by two people who know exactly what that costs. That's the kind of song that doesn't just chart. It endures.

The track also arrives at a cultural moment when the bedroom-pop aesthetic — which dominated the early 2020s — is maturing into something more substantial. The artists who emerged from that movement are no longer bedroom producers; they're seasoned songwriters with decade-long bodies of work, touring histories, and creative visions that extend far beyond a viral moment. "nicotine" is evidence of that maturation. It's a song that could only be made by two artists who've been doing this long enough to know exactly what they want to say — and exactly how to say it.

The Broader Picture: Dream-Pop's 2026 Renaissance

To understand the significance of "nicotine," it helps to zoom out. Dream-pop and shoegaze — genres that were once niche concerns of indie labels and college radio — have experienced a remarkable resurgence in the mid-2020s. The reasons are complex: a cultural pendulum swing away from maximalist pop production, a renewed appetite for emotional honesty in music, and the simple fact that the artists who emerged from the 2010s bedroom-pop wave have grown into their craft.

Winter and Eyedress are at the center of this shift. They represent a generation of artists who are neither retro nor futuristic — they're making music that exists outside of trend cycles, music that could have been made in 1995 or 2026 and would sound equally relevant. "nicotine" doesn't chase a sound; it embodies one. And in doing so, it reminds us that the most powerful music often comes not from innovation, but from honesty.

The collaboration also signals something about the way independent music is evolving in 2026. The boundaries between genres — dream-pop, shoegaze, trip-hop, bedroom-pop — are dissolving. Artists are increasingly defined not by the genre they inhabit, but by the emotional space they create. "nicotine" exists in that emotional space: a place where vulnerability isn't weakness, where atmosphere isn't hiding, and where a simple song about quitting smoking can become something profound.

Frequently Asked Questions: Winter & Eyedress "nicotine"

When did Winter and Eyedress release "nicotine"?

"nicotine" was released on September 18, 2026, as part of Winter's Romantix Mixtape EP via Winspear Records.

Who wrote and produced "nicotine" by Winter feat. Eyedress?

"nicotine" was co-written by Samira Winter and Idris Vicuña (Eyedress). It was produced and mixed by Joo Joo Ashworth, with mixing also handled by Idris Vicuña. The track was mastered by Greg Obis.

What genre is Winter and Eyedress's "nicotine"?

"nicotine" is a moody, trip-hop-inspired dream-pop collaboration. It features swirling guitars, cigarette-glazed vocals, icy breakbeats, and the dusky atmosphere Eyedress is known for, blended with Winter's shoegaze-infused sound.

Who is the artist Winter?

Winter is the stage name of Brazilian-American songwriter and guitarist Samira Winter, born in Curitiba, Brazil. She relocated to Los Angeles in 2013 and has been a mainstay of the city's DIY rock community for over a decade. Her 2025 LP Adult Romantix on Winspear was praised by The FADER, Paste, NPR, KEXP, and Stereogum.

Who is Eyedress?

Eyedress is the stage name of Filipino musician Idris Ennolandy Vicuña, born May 28, 1990 in Manila, Philippines. He is known for the viral hits "Jealous" (certified platinum in the US) and "Something About You," and has collaborated with Mac DeMarco, King Krule, The Marías, and DāM-FunK. He is signed to Winspear Records.

What is the Romantix Mixtape EP?

Romantix Mixtape is a six-track EP by Winter, released September 18, 2026 via Winspear. It features collaborations with Eyedress ("nicotine"), Soccer Mommy ("without you"), and Peel Dream Magazine ("hide-a-lullaby"), plus reworked versions of Adult Romantix deep cuts and a Portuguese-language closer, "infinito mar." A limited-edition red cassette (200 copies) is available via Winspear.

Has Eyedress collaborated with Mac DeMarco?

Yes. Eyedress has released two collaborative singles with Mac DeMarco: "The Dark Prince" and "My Simple Jeep," both with official music videos on YouTube.

Where can I stream Winter and Eyedress's "nicotine"?

"nicotine" is available on Spotify, Bandcamp, and YouTube. The full Romantix Mixtape EP is also available on all streaming platforms, with a limited-edition red cassette via Winspear.

Stream "nicotine" and Connect

Winter

Instagram: @daydreamingwinter

TikTok: @daydreamingwinter

Spotify: Winter

Bandcamp: daydreamingwinter

YouTube: Winter

Eyedress

Instagram: @eyedress

TikTok: @eyedress

YouTube: Eyedress

Official Store: eyedress.store

Music video: Winter - nicotine (feat. Eyedress)

EP: Limited red cassette via Winspear (200 copies)

Production & Visuals

Joo Joo Ashworth — Producer / Mixer: @airballball

bee eyes — Music Video Director: @beeeyes

Winspear Records — Label: @w1nspear

EP Collaborators

Soccer Mommy — "without you": @soccermommy

Peel Dream Magazine — "hide-a-lullaby": @peeldreammagazine

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Sources and Verified References

This article was fact-checked against the following primary and verified sources:

• Wikipedia — Eyedress biography and discography
• Wikipedia — Winter (indie rock band)
• Stereogum — Winter Announces New EP Romantix Mixtape (July 28, 2026)
• Winter official website — daydreamingwinter.com (Curitiba, Brazil biography)
• The Big Takeover — Interview: Samira Winter
• Northern Transmissions — Eyedress Collaborates With King Krule
• Apple Music — Romantix Mixtape EP tracklist
• Spotify — Romantix Mixtape (September 18, 2026, Winspear)
• YouTube — Winter - nicotine (feat. Eyedress) official video
• RIAA certification database — Jealous (2× Platinum, March 2023), Romantic Lover (Platinum, March 2023), Something About You (Gold, May 2022)
• Billboard Emerging Artists chart (January 2022, #35)

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