Album Deep Dive: “Flounder” by Quinnie
Flounder is an album written by 21-year-old Quinnie and released on Feb. 24, 2023. This album is deeply poetic and dreamy with sentimental lyrics that grasp the human soul. Quinnie almost writes this album as an ode to Gen-Z, the expected audience. This album has intense deeper meanings to every single song, making this album's deep dive quite profound.
The first single released on this album was Touch Tank released on July 1, 2022, and then followed by Man and Itch. Touch Tank went viral on TikTok and skyrocketed Quinnie’s following, although she is still classified as an underground artist with only 21,000 followers on Instagram.
Man is the opening song on this album and is a depressing modern picture of a breakup with a boy who is characteristic of someone around the age of the audience. This song is wildly somber while housing a pop beat, making it easy to repeat.
The title of the song Security Question is in relation to a “Security Question” that websites ask you when you create a password. Personally, I find this song an outlier on the album, making it interesting but not extremely enjoyable.
Itch paints the most beautiful picture of what it’s like to be a young girl with an insufferable crush on someone. The imagery of having an itch that liking someone romantically and never being able to scratch it is distressing, similar to “Pancakes For Dinner” by Lizzy McAlpine.
Touch tank, the first single released on this album, is a precious song, describing a relationship with a picturesque perfect boy. It’s sung from the girl's perspective that she’s essentially willing to do anything to remain with him.
The near middle song on this album Popcorn & Juice is a short story about two young childhood friends. This song essentially has no deeper meaning, simply stating the childlike activities two friends are partaking in.
Get what u get is the most powerful song on this album. This song has “umph” unlike any other, but it's torturously short by just being slightly over a minute in length.
The seventh song on this album is Emblem, and it's a very difficult song to understand. This song essentially tells of a wet seed in the earth that becomes gold in the dirt. This could be interpreted as beautiful imagery of us as humans and our dreams, or rather understood as confusing poetry.
Better is perfectly sandwiched between Emblem and Promised, it's a confusing song that has anxious lyrics. It’s assumed Quinnie is singing about her personal problems, such as getting sick and dropping out of school and pursuing music.
Promised is the ninth song on the album and tells of the joy and despair about simply surviving. Quinnie sings this song with the mindset that “tomorrow isn’t promised but I woke today”. This song has a pop beat so it appears to be joyous, but the lyrics are quite existential and anxiety-ridden.
The second to last song on this album is Flounder, which stands alone compared to its albums counterparts. Essentially the flounder being sung about is someone who is trapped in their opinions and perspective, “flattened at the bottom of the sea”.
The last song on this album is Jake’s Car, which is a rendition of Man, the first song on this album. This rendition is of a new relationship, a healed version of Man. This song is the most joyous on the album, a reminder that through all heartache there is a happy ending to every story.
Overall, this album truly personifies the emotions of young twenty-year-olds who are undergoing heartbreak, relationships and general anxiety. Quinnie is clearly an astonishing artist and is greatly talented for being so young. I view her as a genuinely relatable Taylor Swift, joining a spot on the playlist with Conan Gray and Lizzy McAlpine.
Rating: 9/10
Reviewer’s Favorite Song: Man
Reviewer’s Least Favorite Song: Security Question
Grace Bowman is a second-year majoring in biology. To contact her, email gab5585@psu.edu
