brakencesongs are full of combat angst, roused with electronic detail, and never come to an easy conclusion. The lead single “argyle” from the 20-year-old singer-songwriter’s new album, hypochondriac, is an indecisive, roadless spiral emo pop garden. While Blakens struggles with dissatisfaction with his music career (“I was trying to make a living/Well, I did, but now I don’t want to live at all”), his drumming is similarly speculative. And with careful metallic snares and cuts.
July, Fellow Producers Asked Seek advice on how to create different sounds as well on the r/brakence fans subreddit.breakens himself answereddiscusses different technical approaches, links to several sample packs to try out, and provides visual exercises. [percussion samples], or beats in general feel like? he suggested. “A tree? Oil in a frying pan? A drop of water? A bug? An industrial machine? […] Use your imagination! “
Despite their surface-level similarities, Breakens’ music does not derive from hyperpop. He is often classified as a painstaking beatcraft. he calls himself “Suburban synth geekone of many Ableton geniuses to find a home in the online ecosystem of traded samples and tutorials in the wake of the 2010s EDM boom, LA beat sceneVibe Base Youtube ChannelBreakens is so private that he didn’t reveal his face until a few years into his career, but he’s become a Zoomer star with a devoted internet audience.upon hypochondriache twists pop structures with flashy sound design and hair-trigger songwriting, always defying the ill-advised expectations of his artistic persona.
hypochondriac Upgrades Blakeins’ annoying beattape presentation Previous album To such a nervous polish that it can be difficult to accept mental attacks. He wraps his audio in his software, tweaking the songs as they layer and spread. On “5g,” his frenetic, drill-inspired instrumentals and emo hooks on his rap feel like they’re in a different dimension, as if they’re held together by mechanical ghosts. Vocal His samples come up like glitches in The Matrix. rethink infamous Super Smash Bros. DX “wombo comboSoundbite as an EDM riser.
Moments like this highlight this album’s closest thing to hyperpop. A vast amount of online reference points let you see how gears turn in an artist’s head, seeking emotional investment through audacity.Breakens opens with ‘Caffeine,’ like the clunky version of 2018’s singleeffortin a self-indulgent bar that reminds me of the most annoying kind of YouTube rapper: “Why isn’t this shit obvious to you? I’m not even 21/My music is the most snob But somehow I’m still going to make it… Two minutes later, he’s injecting the track with Jersey club meth, going more and more frantic until he sounds possessed. Vocals are drawn from the tone of streaming-era singer-songwriters. edenbut tilts in all directions as his demeanor changes.[ing] However, they also fill the songs he studies with a whimsical character, making it difficult to pinpoint his intentions.