absorption 001
Who’s the Clown? — Audrey Hobert
when i first listened to “chateau” (high btw), i sent the song to two of my friends and basically told them audrey hobert is olivia rodrigo’s kid through ivf? i think at the time i didn’t say taylor swift because i didn’t want to be that annoying gay guy that thinks all white women with guitars make the same music. anyway, this album is really good! it does a great job at doing what it needs to do, and well: be a straightforward pop record with snappy lyrics, clean production, and a peek into what hobert can do as a songwriter. that’s not to say this album is basic, it actually has a lot of moments that surprised me—made me rewind to certain sections of songs more than once just to hear how each layer melded into one another (re: silver jubilee, she was rapping on that song idc).
her visuals for the tracks themselves are also pretty cohesive for someone that has only has one project out. she really impressed me with what she did on thirst trap, but the music video for bowling alley is more of a standout for me. it’s dynamic, energetic, and honestly really funny—reminding me of the types of videos that would play on disney channel at like 4 am (you thought i was gonna say something about taylor swift but i didn’t). i feel like hobert is kinda in on the joke of what she’s doing? like “yeah i’m making this for an album rollout but at least i can have some fun while i’m doing it,” but in a surprisingly authentic way that is hard to come by (which probably happened because pop stars didn’t retain their well hidden lifestyles from early 2000s, we are bombarded by how they through tiktok quotas their labels put on them… ALLEGEDLY).
closing thought: i think hobert paid a karmic debt in a past life because wdym brother is malcom todd (whole other conversation), her roommate at nyu was gracie abrams (an even longer conversation), and got signed to rca like right after those co-writing credits hit her wikipedia?
Excalibur — Good Morning
there’s a tenderness in good morning’s music that’s hard to replicate, even if you mimic their warm style of production where the guitars feel like they’re hugging your ears. their commitment to the feeling is juxtaposed by the lyrics, where when taken on face value, you’d be surprised that it’s a soft indie rock song. like look at this section of the second verse:
So you catch a fresh glimpse into Hell It's a man down, the cops broke his teeth and he was screaming for help Well, it's only here and that's how they'll tell it All that sex and violence makes it so easy to sell it
pretty visceral imagery accompanying subject matter that isn’t great either lol but i really like it! their project from 2019 “the option” is a good next step for anyone wanting to dive deeper into their music. sub is suchhhhh a good song so TAP IN!
Slate — Voda Fuji
trap music so good it can make you cry… like i really wish i was kidding. i’m starting to feel like i’m 16 again listening to young thug and travis scott on the way to debate practice (i contain multitudes btw). i’m surprised at how mature fuji sounds on these tracks given how small his discography is. also the production is SO good and i can tell he cares about the details without sacrificing too much from the track if that makes sense? when i say things like that i think about 2010s pop music that was objectively well-produced, but lacks that soul or “it” factor that makes the genre so universally liked. i’m seeing this a lot in the underground rap scenes both here and in europe where it feels like every new artist somehow took an intro ableton course and can mix/master music like they’re not new to this. anyway, voda fuji better get his flowers soon but i lowkey wanna keep him to myself.