New York artist and producer Deer Park and German experimental electronic artist Valeria Litvakov have turned a pair of chance encounters into two new collaborations, “Better Than Mine” and “The Neverhood.” What began with a meeting backstage at Webster Hall in New York has since stretched across continents and into two very different recording environments, resulting in a pair of singles that capture the spontaneous chemistry between the two artists.
The first track, “Better Than Mine,” came together after Deer Park and Valeria Litvakov both opened for James K at Webster Hall earlier this year. Following the show, Litvakov visited the SoHo studio where Deer Park works, and the two quickly turned their conversation into a recording session.
The result was created in what feels like a musical quick draw—a “one take” moment of lucidity that explores ideas surrounding success, fulfillment, and the uncomfortable feeling of being ordinary. The pair compare themselves to a fictional protagonist whose life appears enviable from the outside, using that imagined figure as a way to examine the gap between how a life looks and how it actually feels to live it.
Their collaboration didn’t end in New York. Later in the year, the two reunited at Creepy Teepee Festival in Prague, where the festival became the starting point for their second track. After the event, several of the artists who had performed relocated to an Airbnb in the Czech countryside, creating an unconventional temporary studio environment where Deer Park and Valeria Litvakov recorded “The Neverhood.”
The two singles therefore come from two separate moments in the artists’ relationship: one born in the middle of New York City, the other created after a festival in the quiet of the Czech countryside. Together, they document a collaboration that developed organically rather than being planned from the outset.
The releases arrive just ahead of the start of Deer Park’s 2026 EU/UK Tour. The seven-stop run will take the artist through six countries, including an appearance at Pitchfork Paris, bringing his genre-blurring approach to audiences across Europe.
Deer Park is the solo alias of Andy Santella, a New York-based multi-instrumentalist and producer whose work moves comfortably between seemingly distant musical environments. His career has included drone performances in French churches, traditional four-piece bands, and production work for artists including Fakemink and Ecco2k.
Rather than treating genre as a fixed destination, Santella uses it as something to move through and reshape. His music pulls together disparate influences according to what resonates, creating a body of work defined less by a single recognizable sound than by an ongoing curiosity about where different ideas can lead.
That approach was already evident on Terra Infirma, his 2024 debut album released through New York experimental label Deleted. The album divides itself into two distinct but connected halves. The first develops an echoing guitar language within more traditional song structures, while the second moves toward electronic abstraction.
Connecting those two sides is a collection of guest appearances that simultaneously give the album recognizable voices and make Deer Park’s own musical identity more elusive. Chanel Beads appears on “Clear Sky Rain,” jackzebra contributes to “Interlude,” Thomas Thatcher appears on “O My Soul,” and Ivy Knight features on “Pharmacy” and “Clear Sky Rain.”
Those collaborations reflect the same instinct that now connects Deer Park and Valeria Litvakov: following an idea wherever it leads rather than forcing it into a predetermined category.
With “Better Than Mine” and “The Neverhood,” that instinct has produced two snapshots of a developing creative relationship—one shaped by a late-night studio session in SoHo, the other by the temporary community that formed around Creepy Teepee Festival.
The two singles arrive as Deer Park prepares to begin his 2026 European and UK tour, offering a new glimpse into an artist whose work continues to find its shape through collaboration, curiosity, and unexpected connections.
Deer Park: Instagram | YouTube | Streaming