I knew Pony Bwoy would be sexy. Based on the track records of the two collaborators, Jeremy Nutzman and Hunter Morley, it had to be sexy. But I didn’t know Pony Bwoy would be beautiful.

The new electronic hip-hop R&B duo was only born last spring, in the hazy aftermath of shows that featured both Nutzman’s alter-ego Spyder Baybie Rawdog and Morley’s band Enola Gay.

“Jeremy and I got wasted, took some speed, and then jammed out on St. Patrick’s Day last year,” Morley said. “We recorded a terrible track but had a gas, so yeah. I think it kept going because we let him pitch a tent in our back yard and piss in our toilet for the summer.”

Since they came together they’ve generated a little buzz around their song and video “Aevum (Time Crawls)” and a remix of Polica’s “Chain My Name.” In August they released a self-titled album through Spyder Baybie’s label, Totally Gross National Product, which is also home to artists like Lizzo and Marijuana Deathsquads.

The album is sonically unique. Its songs, most of which clock in over four minutes, range from dark and meditative explorations of sound to mind-bending party tracks.

“I really like it,” Nutzman said, “and a lot of animals really seem to be enjoying it as well.”

The music stands out most when it delves into new places. Nutzman explores a croon, distorting his elastic voice to the point where it is nearly unrecognizable. The result is surprisingly beautiful.

“It started out as an excuse to do drugs and now it's an excuse to try all the things musically we've wanted to,” Morley said. “Hence the different vocal sounds and shit, song to song.”

The combination of Morley’s pulsating production and Nutzman’s flow-of-consciousness vocals results in songs that feel more like living organisms than music. Smooth, hypnotic sounds emerge, with haunting compositions. Nutzman’s coarse Spyder Baybie humor is still present in places, as is Morley’s danceability, but both flexed a bit in the collaboration.

“My older projects were a lot more live-oriented and simply arranged,” Morley said. “Pony Bwoy started as a recording thing, so the arrangements could go anywhere and we left nothing off-limits.”

The duo made their live debut at the Totally Gross National Product annual party in September. “Smoke and mirrors” is how Nutzman described their live shows. “But actually we're really excited to find out still, 'cause we've only played out like three or four times.”

This is only the beginning of a serious project for Pony Bwoy. They’ve got the album, the label, and even a little national attention. “The process is definitely more tedious and nit-picky than it's been in the past and future,” Nutzman said. “But yeah, we're dead fucking serious.”

“LP two is so close to being done, hopefully we can get it out sometime this spring,” Morley said. “It's probably a lot different than the first one."

If you can’t wait until the next release, you can catch Pony Bwoy in San Francisco on December 20, at the 7th Street Entry with Night Moves on New Year’s Eve, or at the Triple Rock on January 24 with Baltimore’s Chiffon. Their album is available for free download on the Totally GNP site.

Luke Muyskens attends St. John's University. He previously wrote for aboveGround Magazine and UGSMAG.