“I was listening to those types of bands and also more contemporary stuff while I was writing all the songs from Vaporwave. But it almost seems like we’re not worthy to make that type of comparison. We think so highly of those bands,” says the Mount Pleasant resident.

After the dissolution of Nemeyer’s most recent band, The Silver Liners, he headed cross country to Los Angeles to record the album that would become Vaporwave, tracking the songs himself and and working with producer Kyle Downes, who previously produced The Silver Liners’ EP, Bliss. Nemeyer then hand-picked a team of area musicians to round out Color Palette’s lineup, including drummer Matt Hartenau, who previously played with The Silver Liners.

With the help of his new band, Nemeyer debuted Vaporwave at a release show at the W Hotel in May. It opens with “Seventeen,” a melancholy tale of young love lost. “I told her I loved her, but I didn’t know what love was,” Nemeyer sings.

It’s a microcosm of the dulcet agony at the core of Vaporwave. The heartache, thinly veiled by glistening keyboards, comes easily to Nemeyer, although he’s not sure why. Over the phone, he’s amiable and upbeat.

“I just have a really easy time writing about breakups, and I don’t know why. It’s just something that comes natural to me,” he says.

Color Palette plays July 16 at Red Panda House in D.C. and July 29 at the Rock & Roll Hotel in D.C.

On the third single from the band’s forthcoming EP, songwriter Jay Nemeyer nods to bands like Phantogram and Sohn, who texturize their electronic music with organic sounds.

Thematically, “Rain” (listen below) flows with the rest of the EP, depicting a last-ditch attempt to save a drowning relationship. At the heart of the track is a relentless, alarmlike vocal drone that triggers a wave of intensity, like the downpour in which the narrator seems caught — and Nemeyer throws in a few layers of sound to build a foggy atmosphere.

Combined, those elements add up to the band’s heaviest single to date, which seems to be the point.

“It’s about the compounding effect loss in one area of your life can have on the rest,” Nemeyer says.

Color Palette plays Aug. 15 at Ghost Office in College Park, Maryland.

The 28-year-old D.C. native leads Color Palette, the electronic-rock outfit set to release its debut EP in August. The catchy “Heartless” (listen below) — which Nemeyer wrote and, with Kyle Downes, co-produced — is the EP’s second single, following up on “Seventeen.”

While it describes a particularly ruthless romantic partner, the tune is far from miserable; it’s accessible, sounding indebted to janglers R.E.M. and The Smiths, but without Michael Stipes’ ambiguity or Morrissey’s pretentiousness. In other words, it’s a sad song that doesn’t wallow.

“Heartless” seems to revel in the elasticity of youth — a time when emotions are vivid, reactions are uncalculated and your pain just might be healed by the end of that song. Got your heart stomped on? This track commands, “Dance it out.”

Maybe that’s why Color Palette is a band best enjoyed in the wild.

“I don’t think you can fully appreciate this music without seeing a show. We’re better live,” Nemeyer says. “Every time I’m up there singing a song, I’m reliving it all over again.”

Color Palette plays an EP release show July 25 at Rock & Roll Hotel with Drop Electric, Honest Haloway and Boon.