As I was about to lay my little head to sleep, I got a reminder that Briston Maroney was about to live stream on Youtube before the premiere of his latest music video and single, “Sinkin’”. Briston really said: “don’t give a fuck if you intended to ignore me!” (see: “Fool’s Gold” by Briston Maroney)
I want to say I had a very normal reaction to my favourite artist releasing THE LAST SINGLE BEFORE HIS DEBUT ALBUM but I have zero semblance of normal anymore. I sobbed, okay? Are you happy to know that I am a blubbering mess over a song that I have just heard for the first time? Briston absolutely woke up and chose ~emotional violence~ today. 😩
Watch the video for “Sinkin'”:
The first time I ever heard his music was live as he opened for Wallows on their UK tour in 2019 and I was immediately hooked. One of the many things I think is so cool about Briston’s music is how no song is the same — each song has things that make it unique and nothing follows a formula. “Sinkin’” definitely does not disappoint on that front.
The first thing I noticed was that there isn’t really a chorus. There is only one line that repeats more than twice and even then it slightly changes the last time it’s sung.
“But some things are out of your hands”
Can one line count as a chorus? Are there hard and fast rules to songwriting? What makes a song beautiful? I am always caught off guard with the songs that end up just fully punching me in the chest. Often, the lyrics haven’t even sunken in yet but something in the combination of the vocals and guitars and drums, and sometimes even the absence of those things, will prick my tear ducts and I’m a goner.
With “Sinkin’” it was these lyrics that started the outpour:
“Do you know what it takes?
Do I have what it takes?
Do you know what it takes?
‘Cuz I have what it takes.”
The combination of the vocal effect and the emotion behind those lyrics as he gets louder and more intense as he repeats the phrase put me on EDGE but I love it. Those words are begging and vulnerable, pleading and prodding. They could be applied to every aspect of the human condition. Do I have what it takes? Phew.
With a nod to his EP Indiana (or possibly the actual state or possibly an actual person named Indiana), Briston sings:
“Product of beauty
Always saw thru me
She knew what she wanted
Product of passion
Fucked! Up! the fashion
And lived out of order”]
Ugh. YES. Giving us imagery and energy! A product of beauty and passion, she knew what she wanted AND she fucked up the fashion to live out of order?? To march to the beat of her own drum?? I want to be this girl! I am this girl!
Briston’s friend and music-video-directing-wizard, Joey Brodnax, along with the “Sinkin’” music video, is serving major Black Mirror vibes with the Sunflower: A Visual Album short film trailer and I’m almost a little scared?
“Have you ever wondered what made something beautiful?”
Briston and Joey are definitely up to something and I am desperate to figure out what it all means!! Not me rewatching the music videos for each single over and over again at midnight BUT here is what I have so far:
-01 landscapes
Where to aim when taking a stab at beauty:
-2 failed alchemy
What happens when humans expect enchantment?
-02 human enchantment
Where to aim when taking a stab at beauty:
-5 meaninglessness
Name a beautiful inverse of something you can’t describe.
I have no clue what any of it means or has to do with the album BUT IT’S SOMETHING! We’ve got recurring imagery & repetitious phrases, we’ve got synchronized dancing, poetry, mysterious questions and postulations! We’ve got it all! What do you think it all MEANS?
Excuse me while I go and play “Sinkin’” on repeat until I can sing it in my sleep! Briston Maroney’s DEBUT ALBUM Sunflower is available everywhere April 9th.
