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an excerpt from brendonholder.substack.com 👇🏿
There is a subset of songs across cultures and demographics that are treated as sermons. That is, they aren’t meant to be solely listened to; they are meant to be soulfully observed. When heard, whether it be at a summer barbeque, your neighbour’s Bar Mitzvah, or your aunt’s second wedding, the world seems to stop as its participants’ eyes scan the room for mutual recognition. Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” comes to mind. The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” is another. “Don’t Stop Believing”, “September” and “Back That Azz Up” all possess the same spellbinding psychosis.
Nicki Minaj delivers “Itty Bitty Piggy” with a braggadocios practice round. A gratuitous warm-up of forty seconds to allow the listener to complete their drink, collect their thoughts and round up their comrades prior to the song rewinding and starting over for real this time:
“You can't give it to 'em dry like that… / You gotta prep them for shit like that” she lectures, offering the listener both grace and a warning within the same breath.
Jan 22, 2024
Related Recs
Swim or Sink
Like this post if you're also fed up with Billie Eilish. Jokes aside, her new album is one of the two most powerful pop records of the year so far. I just got around to her release and yesterday I listened to Dua Lipa's new album, so I'm making up for it twice over: I realized what I like about Billie's album compared to "Radical Optimism."
"HIT ME HARD AND SOFT" is a sophisticated alt-pop album that doesn’t even try to sound like a hit. I like that Billie intentionally didn’t turn her album into an event: near-zero promo without singles made me forget the album was even about to drop. “I don’t like singles. This album is like a family: I don’t want to leave any of the kids alone.” So, I dived into this release with zero expectations—and that’s probably the coolest strategy for promoting such music.
Dua Lipa's promo wasn’t the most outstanding, but it was big enough. But I’m more concerned with one specific part of it: Dua claimed in an interview that she was inspired by “British rave culture, Primal Scream, Massive Attack, Britpop, and Gorillaz.” She even invited Kevin Parker and Danny L Harle to make the sound richer and more interesting. But when the album came out, I had only one question: where is all that? “Radical Optimism” turned out to be a very timid release, where I hear neither Tricky’s nor Damon Albarn’s approach. And Kevin Parker’s name in the credits just makes you snort—it’s one of those cases where even a talented producer couldn’t save music he’s not used to working with.
Billie and Finneas say they were inspired by Tyler, Lana, and Vince Staples' music. But listening to the album, I understand what they really mean—the desire to ignore standards and do something of their own. This approach is closer to me: it sounds more honest and fully unfolds in the music itself. Finneas skillfully mixes pop, folk, and electronics, trying to make not a hit, but just cool music. Listen to the phenomenal transition in “L’amour De Ma Vie”—this is the level of production we’re talking about. Billie overcomes herself and starts singing at full voice, moving away from the image of a “whispering languid girl.” The lyrics tell an honest and sometimes touching story of love and self-discovery. Everything works like clockwork here—it seems like the same calculated pop approach as Dua Lipa's, but with the right passion and enjoyment.
Now let’s look at the situation from the side of numbers, sales, and all that nonsense. Lipa obviously aimed for the charts—but magically didn’t end up in them. Because even the mass listener can feel when the music doesn’t hit. I don’t like referring to the crowd’s opinion, but here I completely agree with them: “Radical Optimism” turned out to be just a dull addition to quite powerful singles. Billie’s album came out without any singles at all.
Will Billie and Finneas’s creation become a hit? Probably not. But it wasn’t meant to be—it’s more about talented music that deserves praise. An album not for the masses, but for critics, if you like.
Now fans are actively spreading the theory that Billie’s album is actually a double one: firstly, the leaked merch hints at this, and secondly—the final line “But when can I hear the next one?” makes you want to believe it—because I’d be happy to get another portion of Finneas's refined production.
Dua is calmly splashing in the water under the sun, while Billie Eilish is sinking, trying to overcome her main childhood fear (yes, the cover was shot live). I’m not a hater of Lipa, rather the opposite—but I think stories like this should teach something. You can’t update your sound just by inviting Tame Impala, just as you can’t sell an album to the masses if there’s nothing to listen to besides the singles. If you’re inspired by Primal Scream, you’ll have to play by different rules. Because while Dua is resting, Billie and Finneas are setting their own rules for the entire industry. And maybe not immediately, but everyone will appreciate it.
Jun 21, 2024
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From the first day i heard this girls music to the day she wrote this song…
everything that happened was getting the world ready to hear it
I truly feel this one is a prairie princess manifesto
it represents so many years of work and exploration with storytelling and melodic variants that twist something in ones heart and makes you remember youre alive
As a huge prairie princess fan I have to say that If you fuck with this song it is only the beautiful cohesive potent beginning of a lifetime of growth and wonder and truth to come out of this woman
I implore you to keep up with her antics. You don't want to miss a thing.
Dec 30, 2023
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If you only know Doja Cat from her hit singles, viral TikTok sounds, and trollish online antics, you might be surprised to learn that she had a deep career on Soundcloud long before she would first boldly declare "bitch, I'm a cow".
As a teenager, Doja would scour YouTube for songs to turn into beats and vocalize over. One such song was Com Truise's Brokendate, which forms the foundation of 4 morant (better luck next time), uploaded to Soundcloud in 2012 when Doja was only 16 or 17 years old. She eventually took down the song, and generally refuses to acknowledge it (likely due to the very personal lyrics), but it recently had an official release under Com Truise (to whom she did not give credit in her initial upload).
As for why I recommend it: this song is just perfect for those late nights when you're in that dissonant state of hurting deeply while being too apathetic to acknowledge or do anything about it. You feel stuck and a bit impulsive and very alone. Damn, no one gets it. Then in a sudden moment of clarity, emotion comes spilling over you. I cry from my eyes to my feet, stairs to the street to the gutters to the seas. You sit in that feeling for a while, but then it washes away, and you're left in your habitual resignation. Sigh... better luck next time. Better luck next time.
Feb 1, 2024
Top Recs from @brendeezyy
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The things Emma Stone is able to do... Julia Roberts of the new generation.
Jan 24, 2024
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there are no pleasantries in hunger
Jan 22, 2024
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Would you believe me if I told you that I willingly ate at a restaurant where the chef had been rumoured to murder stray cats? Well, I did and I’d do it again. A week or two ago, I found myself at a buzzy, new restaurant in Hollywood. I was in Los Angeles for work and, after grabbing drinks with a friend, I slid into the dimly lit joint to taste the fabled off-menu rigatoni. I made the reso for two but it was late on a Wednesday and my friend opted to slink off to bed rather than stay out for a bite.
When I approached the hostess and notified her of the change in the number of guests, she told me I could have my original table or sit the bar. Without hesitation, I took the bar. Dining at the bar is special because you are invisible and on display at the same time. Typically, the bartender takes your order and serves you, meaning you are usually in the presence of a skilled conversationalist should you choose to entertain. The bartender is more likely to give you an honest read of the menu than a regular waiter, more likely to slip you an off-menu treat as you keep them company. You experience the restaurant through the eyes of those who work there without clocking in. As a voyeur, you eavesdrop on the first date to your right, you pick up on the not-so-secret affair between servers. You can chat with the stranger next to you or you can disappear into your own world, earbuds in, magazine in hand. I did a bit of it all that evening.
Next to me, a man in an Aime Leon Dore hat offered his fries, allowing me to snack off his plate. Despite his generosity, I never gave him a bite of my rigatoni. That was for me alone to indulge.
Jan 22, 2024