Empty Promises - Carter Ray (Pop) Carter Ray is back with the dark pop “Empty Promises”—a meditation on toxic narcissism and emotional manipulation, as Carter lets the listener in on the after effects Carter still deals with following a bad relationship. The sonic landscape is lead by heavily compressed and tuned vocals to give a piercing, robotic tone to slice through the swirling production, driven forward by the hefty bounce of the 808. The vocal themselves are soft and vulnerable, reflective and contemplative, accented with a distortion that gives it real ear candy quality. We could actually hear this tune next to some of Kanye’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” This a turn off the lights and vibe out kinda track.