• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vinyl Chapters

Vinyl Chapters

The Stories Behind The Music

  • Home
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • News
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
Home » articles » Yungblud: weird! – Album Review

Yungblud: weird! – Album Review

December 6, 2020 by Imogen Lawlor

Yungblud

In the promotion for weird!, Yungblud states he wants his fans to love themselves unconditionally no matter who they are. It’s safe to say, he has achieved this and more. 

Mixing together a cocktail of eclectic musical influences, unique narratives and vivid imagery, weird! packs in heaps of honesty, personality and intimacy; while remaining poignantly frank throughout. If you too are “lost in a supermarket shopping for [your] sense of self” (charity), you will definitely find a small piece of it somewhere in this album. 

Yungblud’s range of influences and genres is vast. By citing the lyrics and sounds British household names such as Queen (teresa), David Bowie (mars), and Lily Allen (charity), Yungblud’s sound is hard to pin down but nevertheless engaging. While the opening track teresa experiments with a glassy, mysterious glockenspiel in its opening, others are denser and more rock-influenced. This is executed particularly well on superdeadfriends, in which the minor/major tonality shift between the verse and chorus allows for the subtleties of the textural play to come to the fore. Despite such vast experimentation, however, Yungblud maintains a sense of grounding, accessibility and vulnerability across all 13 tracks, even when working in genres he is dabbling in for the first time (love song). 

Yungblud - weird!

Although much of the subject matter on this album is deeply personal, Yungblud’s real talent lies in narrating the stories of others and teasing out common themes in order to convey his sense of empathy and understanding of the world around him. teresa tells the story of a girl whose boyfriend passed away and mars was inspired by a transgender girl for whom Yungblud’s music played a crucial role in her parents accepting her. 

Yungblud further illustrates this through surreal, rich lyricism and unique, sensorial imagery. Some memorable highlights include “I can’t sleep at this time/I got Jesus on my mind/and everybody seems to like him” (weird!) and “There’s something about the way/Our bed sheets turn religion upside down” (cotton candy). 

Although critical opinion has been divided on this release, it is hard to deny the raw talent and musicality of Yungblud. It’s one thing to decry an artist for being too “angsty” or too “Gen-Z”, but what is more important is to appreciate the immense range of subjects, sounds and stories one artist manages to occupy in such a short space of time. The closing track, the freak show, triumphantly declares “Welcome to the freak show, I hope you find yourself today”, and it’s safe to say that Yungblud has captured a bit of all of us; especially in this “weird time of life” (weird!). 

Score: 4.5/5

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Review

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Newsletter

* indicates required

Recent Posts

Beach Bunny - Blame Game

Beach Bunny: Blame Game EP – Review

Pearl Charles

Pearl Charles: Magic Mirror – Review

You Me At Six

You Me At Six: Suckapunch – Review

Footer

Navigation

Home

About

Reviews

Features

News

Submit

Contact Us

Shop

Search

Recent Posts

  • New Music Fridays – 15th January 2021
  • Beach Bunny: Blame Game EP – Review
  • Pearl Charles: Magic Mirror – Review
  • You Me At Six: Suckapunch – Review
  • Aquaman kicks off Mondo’s DC vinyl soundtrack releases

Affiliate Disclosure

Vinyl Chapters is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. In doing so, this helps us continue providing free content. It does not increase the price for you in any way.

Social Media

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Copyright © 2021 Vinyl Chapters | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy