I know a bunch of these songs already, I dunno how long I’ve been listening to him on YouTube. Listening to them all in a set, as albums, without the video, did change my experience somewhat. It lowered my tolerance for lyrics that are viscerally off-putting or uncomfortable, and it made it more apparent to me the formularity with which he sometimes writes his songs. I think he does a lot to give songs unique personality through performance and lyrics, as well as variations in composition and stuff, I do. But, I also think most of them have a very similar feel, similar types of melody and meter. It’s good, it’s a fun type of song, but it makes it easier for me to only keep the songs I really like because the other ones, even if they’re fun and I enjoy their music video, feel like inferior versions of the same song.
In fairness, those issues I had with him all become less and less big of a deal, less and less important, as time went on. In a lot of ways, I think they largely don’t apply to his most recent stuff. There’s more range, more difference between songs, the general quality is just higher. Not just more range, higher quality. There is a lot of range, it is high quality, not just in comparison to his early stuff. His third album especially, The Dancefloor At The End Of The Universe, is kinda great. It by and large it resolves my past complaints, and it really doubles down on the stuff that I really like. Lo-Fi is an absolute banger that I like more every time I listen to it. Hot Shit is a banger, and it also genuinely makes me feel better? It feels so truly sincere, it doesn’t feel trite at all. It’s goofy and fun, but it also is heartfelt and real.
So yeah. I already had pretty good knowledge of him going into this, I was positively inclined. I think he’s a little hit or miss early on, but by this point I think he’s just great. He’s interesting and thoughtful and fun and funny, and his songs are bangers. I’m a fan, I’m here for it, A
Tom Cardy complete, now listening to Chappell Roan
tunafruitsandwitch 