brakence - “hypochondriac” Album Review
The artist who is not scared to be experimental, brakence takes it one step further than his last album with “hypochondriac.” The 13-track, emotionally-conflicting album tests his limits as an artist.
There were five pre-released songs making his fans highly anticipate the release, but brakence delivered a 52-minute-long album that definitely could’ve been a little shorter. Some tracks were almost five-minutes-long, with the longest one running at over six minutes.
From start to finish, this album will keep the listener on their toes. brakence is not scared to push the boundaries of music with this enterprising album. The collection of songs is impressive.
There were five pre-released singles in this album, one of them being “bugging!” which was released in November of this year and opens the album. A slightly different version of this song was earlier leaked on Soundcloud and fans have controversial views if the official or leaked version is better.
The transition from “bugging!” to “caffeine” was so clean that it doesn’t even sound like he shifted to a new song as he jumps right into the lyrics. “venus fly trap” is arguably one of the catchiest songs brakence has ever created.
“teeth” is a more bass-heavy track that starts out with relaxed, but deep lyrics and as his feelings get more powerful, the song starts to glitch more and more. “intellectual greed” starts out with a pop beat until there is a beat switch into ominous whispers.
Pitching his vocals up and transitioning back to normal, “5g” is the definition of what 5g would sound like. “preparation exercise no. 7” is extremely glitchy illustrating all of his exploding emotions until it finally slows down.
Coming back with another great transition, “cbd” describes how he feels so alone. Transitioning to “stung,” pulls back the beat and brings it back in a breathtaking way.
“deepfake” shows brakence at his breaking point where he’s trying to find his purpose and who he is as a person as the intensity of the song grows to deeply express his emotions.
“introvert” shows an entirely different side of him where it sounds as if his demons are coming out, but then the album takes a huge turn yet again, where “hypochondriac,” the heartbreaking closing piece ends the project and puts all of the pieces together.
The imperfections in this album are what make it complete. brakence is displaying what it’s like to be broken and trying to piece everything back together. Very few artists would be able to pull this off as he did.
With the glitchy production, it sounds like organized chaos and if this were on a vinyl, it would make the listener think that it’s terribly scratched due to how much glitching and skipping there is.
The production’s incredible, the lyrics fit the point he’s trying to get across and his voice is stunning. brakence is an interesting artist to say the least. He’s different and has his own sound.
Listening deeper, some lyrics may seem overdramatic, but that’s how most music is nowadays. He gets vulnerable with his songwriting which makes him easy to connect with.
Ever since brakence’s signing to Columbia Records, the production of music has massively improved and he’s only going up from here.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewer’s Favorite Songs: “hypochondriac,” “caffeine,” “venus fly trap”
Reviewer’s Least Favorite Songs: “preparation exercise no. 7”
Brianna Cavalieri is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email bmc6284@psu.edu.
