There is currently a girl going viral on tiktok for describing her experience at a Sombr concert in DC where 99% of the audience was a tween / young teenager and how he spent the majority of the concert alternating between making sexually explicit jokes (telling them to call him "daddy", joking about how girls were begging him to do sexual things) and yelling out various internet brainrot jokes.
You’ve done an incredible job putting to words what I’ve been struggling with in pop these days.
I think so many artists would benefit from taking a page off the Death Cab school of songwriting. Lean into overdescription, the mundane details that bring me into a scene! Or go in the other direction and lean hard into abstract metaphors, the dissection of emotions that are otherwise difficult to define! Make me feel uncomfortable! Make me feel connected! If you’re really feeling creative, weave both techniques at once! “Show, don’t tell” does not lose its poignancy just because the medium is music!
A lot of artists seem either unwilling or unable to do this. Which is fine - vapidity doesn’t make a song unlistenable. But if you’re going to skimp on the songwriting, then you need to give interesting or creative sound. And if you won’t do that, then you at least need to make a *fun* sound. And if you lose all of that, you end up with a waste of 3 minutes.
“Recession pop” had some ups (and a lot of downs) but it had to at LEAST be fun in order to get radio play, otherwise it wouldn’t succeed. But now, social media has been such a scourge on the art, where performers can wield little guessing games during shows, and curate verses and bridges meant for TikTok sounds in their singles, and it all comes at detriment and disservice to the art itself. At least soullessness used to be fun to sing along to.
Okay I read it in full now and I really have to say that what botheres me the most is the painfully obvious way these "made to succeed" artists obviously very heavily water down alternative music that is SUPPOSED TO BE COOL AND DIFFERENT to something weve all heard before. Theres 0 edge, 0 innovation it doesnt even stand for anything but it sure as hell has the look of something a million times more interesting. It'll just play around in what others faught labels to let happen in a way that certainly wont upset any label, or person, cause that would be bad!!
The lack of rock music isnt what makes me think rock is dead. THIS washed up generic shit is what makes me think rock is dead (thank fuck for better small artists proving me rong) But this is all we get when it comes to rock from the big guns. We get sulky pop disguised as rock. We get someone trying really hard to sound like Wiped out by the nbhd.
Yeah it’s almost like that music was supposed to be an alternative to this type of lame trash, and it got so popular that it just became apart of the mainstream trash.
none of these pop boys have it nowadays, they all bore me! i liked a couple of sombr songs before the album release, but then the album bored me to absolute tears sans one song that wasn't a single - i'm over it
The "I don't want the children of another man to have the eyes of the girl I won't forget" line is itched into the very neurons that make up my brain now, and it's such a cringy and cliché line.
Whenever I hear this line—against my will—I imagine him dressed, ha, as Severus Snape waffling on about how Harry has his mother’s eyes. He lowkey looks like him.
this summer i-D posted some buuuuullshit to instagram with the headline “can sombr save rock & roll?” and i literally had to close the app because that was some of the most insane ragebait i’ve ever seen!!! the ‘local’ in me likes two of his songs (will not be elaborating further) but every time i see some new heinous opinion piece about him i just feel my eyes glaze over. he has about as much charisma and on-stage presence as a wet noodle. this guy is 1000% the posterchild for how tiktok has destroyed the music industry 🚮
I heard "back to friends" a few months ago and didn't hate it so I listened to another song and was like...this can't be real lmao. Loved reading this!
Gonna read this in full some other time but yungblud is particularly interesting to me because hes been around for long enough and his past "era" and music were faaaaar more interesting than whatever hes got going on now. I saw him live. weathers and palaye royale were openers. Weathers straight up sucked. Palaye royale stole the show!!! and they had me disappointed in yungblud by the sheer comparison of how goddamn cool that show was.
I do not like yungbluds music any more after having seen him live. Such a shame because he used to be quite interesting.
I liked a few of his songs, haven’t listened to the whole album, but the Tictok drama surrounding him and his response to it killed any intention of me listening to anymore of his music
I honestly think the absolute mediocrity of undressed kind of fits the lyrics— to me they are describing that reluctance but ultimate compulsion to have to sleep with a new person which can feel sad and exhausting even while it is has some thrill. I think thats why that particular song is a hit because his lack of charisma fits the mood described in the lyrics…. So it resonates. With you on literally every other point here though 🤣
always here for an arctic monkeys reference. there’s a viral tiktok of a woman who went to the concert and realized it wasn’t for her and it’s incredibly funny. the overall sentiment of sombr seems that’s he’s nothing even edgy or dangerous about his lyrics or persona, your parent wouldn’t care if you listened. i thought that was the point of rock.
I had the same read on Sombr when I heard some of his songs. In general I've noticed a theme of recent artists with "industry plant" vibes curating a cool/edgy image and then their output is just...fine? Like if I heard it at the grocery store I'd be like "sure, this makes sense here" but then the artist is dressed like a mall goth from 2003.
I hate it because I don't want to sound anti-pop or contrarian, because I love pop music when it's fun and catchy and the person making it at least seems to have some of their actual personality included, but there's a lot of these artists whose music feels like the musical equivalent of Corporate Memphis/Alegria art - engineered for mass appeal and to not offend so much that it ends up lacking a pulse.
him taking a quote from brokeback mountain for his mid song feels criminal to me
There is currently a girl going viral on tiktok for describing her experience at a Sombr concert in DC where 99% of the audience was a tween / young teenager and how he spent the majority of the concert alternating between making sexually explicit jokes (telling them to call him "daddy", joking about how girls were begging him to do sexual things) and yelling out various internet brainrot jokes.
it tracks.
Cringe lol
You’ve done an incredible job putting to words what I’ve been struggling with in pop these days.
I think so many artists would benefit from taking a page off the Death Cab school of songwriting. Lean into overdescription, the mundane details that bring me into a scene! Or go in the other direction and lean hard into abstract metaphors, the dissection of emotions that are otherwise difficult to define! Make me feel uncomfortable! Make me feel connected! If you’re really feeling creative, weave both techniques at once! “Show, don’t tell” does not lose its poignancy just because the medium is music!
A lot of artists seem either unwilling or unable to do this. Which is fine - vapidity doesn’t make a song unlistenable. But if you’re going to skimp on the songwriting, then you need to give interesting or creative sound. And if you won’t do that, then you at least need to make a *fun* sound. And if you lose all of that, you end up with a waste of 3 minutes.
“Recession pop” had some ups (and a lot of downs) but it had to at LEAST be fun in order to get radio play, otherwise it wouldn’t succeed. But now, social media has been such a scourge on the art, where performers can wield little guessing games during shows, and curate verses and bridges meant for TikTok sounds in their singles, and it all comes at detriment and disservice to the art itself. At least soullessness used to be fun to sing along to.
He needs to learn how to come up with his own lyrics and metaphors/allusions rather than just regurgitating tumblr quotes
I try to go on dates, but none of them are yooooooooooooouuUuu 🥀
Okay I read it in full now and I really have to say that what botheres me the most is the painfully obvious way these "made to succeed" artists obviously very heavily water down alternative music that is SUPPOSED TO BE COOL AND DIFFERENT to something weve all heard before. Theres 0 edge, 0 innovation it doesnt even stand for anything but it sure as hell has the look of something a million times more interesting. It'll just play around in what others faught labels to let happen in a way that certainly wont upset any label, or person, cause that would be bad!!
The lack of rock music isnt what makes me think rock is dead. THIS washed up generic shit is what makes me think rock is dead (thank fuck for better small artists proving me rong) But this is all we get when it comes to rock from the big guns. We get sulky pop disguised as rock. We get someone trying really hard to sound like Wiped out by the nbhd.
Yeah it’s almost like that music was supposed to be an alternative to this type of lame trash, and it got so popular that it just became apart of the mainstream trash.
Perfectly stated
none of these pop boys have it nowadays, they all bore me! i liked a couple of sombr songs before the album release, but then the album bored me to absolute tears sans one song that wasn't a single - i'm over it
The "I don't want the children of another man to have the eyes of the girl I won't forget" line is itched into the very neurons that make up my brain now, and it's such a cringy and cliché line.
it's just such a convoluted way to express that lmao
Whenever I hear this line—against my will—I imagine him dressed, ha, as Severus Snape waffling on about how Harry has his mother’s eyes. He lowkey looks like him.
this summer i-D posted some buuuuullshit to instagram with the headline “can sombr save rock & roll?” and i literally had to close the app because that was some of the most insane ragebait i’ve ever seen!!! the ‘local’ in me likes two of his songs (will not be elaborating further) but every time i see some new heinous opinion piece about him i just feel my eyes glaze over. he has about as much charisma and on-stage presence as a wet noodle. this guy is 1000% the posterchild for how tiktok has destroyed the music industry 🚮
I heard "back to friends" a few months ago and didn't hate it so I listened to another song and was like...this can't be real lmao. Loved reading this!
thx! yea a few of his songs are like, fine. but there's just way too much good music out there to even spend a second on this, in my opinion.
Gonna read this in full some other time but yungblud is particularly interesting to me because hes been around for long enough and his past "era" and music were faaaaar more interesting than whatever hes got going on now. I saw him live. weathers and palaye royale were openers. Weathers straight up sucked. Palaye royale stole the show!!! and they had me disappointed in yungblud by the sheer comparison of how goddamn cool that show was.
I do not like yungbluds music any more after having seen him live. Such a shame because he used to be quite interesting.
I liked a few of his songs, haven’t listened to the whole album, but the Tictok drama surrounding him and his response to it killed any intention of me listening to anymore of his music
Everything happens for a reason
I honestly think the absolute mediocrity of undressed kind of fits the lyrics— to me they are describing that reluctance but ultimate compulsion to have to sleep with a new person which can feel sad and exhausting even while it is has some thrill. I think thats why that particular song is a hit because his lack of charisma fits the mood described in the lyrics…. So it resonates. With you on literally every other point here though 🤣
this is the one artist who i wholeheartedly believe is an industry plant
always here for an arctic monkeys reference. there’s a viral tiktok of a woman who went to the concert and realized it wasn’t for her and it’s incredibly funny. the overall sentiment of sombr seems that’s he’s nothing even edgy or dangerous about his lyrics or persona, your parent wouldn’t care if you listened. i thought that was the point of rock.
Sombr is mid. swallows are a migratory species. the carolina parakeet is extinct. rivers run downhill…
I had the same read on Sombr when I heard some of his songs. In general I've noticed a theme of recent artists with "industry plant" vibes curating a cool/edgy image and then their output is just...fine? Like if I heard it at the grocery store I'd be like "sure, this makes sense here" but then the artist is dressed like a mall goth from 2003.
I hate it because I don't want to sound anti-pop or contrarian, because I love pop music when it's fun and catchy and the person making it at least seems to have some of their actual personality included, but there's a lot of these artists whose music feels like the musical equivalent of Corporate Memphis/Alegria art - engineered for mass appeal and to not offend so much that it ends up lacking a pulse.