Blackbear’s EP “The Afterglow” may have been released nearly three years ago in 2014, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen. I am a huge fan of all of his music; his album, “Deadroses,” has a multitude of amazing songs as well as his most recent EP, “Cashmere Noose.” However, none of his work sticks out to me as much as “The Afterglow.”
The aspect of this EP that differentiates itself from the rest of his discography is that it illustrates a cohesive story through emotional lyrics, powerful instrumentals, and songs that fade into the next. “The Afterglow” tells the story of love and loss. I especially resonated with it as I went through the emotions that Blackbear describes in his songs, but whether or not you have experienced heartbreak firsthand, the EP is phenomenal.
The EP is opened with the sound of fireworks. “N.Y.E.” captures the atmosphere and vibes of a real New Year’s Eve, both through the sounds and lyrics. Blackbear sings, “I think I drank too much, I’m still afraid of growin’ up and slowin’ down too soon.” He describes the immortal, on-top-of-the-world feeling that many millennials tend to experience in their youth, as well as the fear of getting older, both physically and mentally. The instrumental quiets down as Blackbear’s drunken monologues ensue: “I wanted to let you know, I thought of you, it’s all for you, I changed the way I thought of you, revolving you, the sun the moon, and seasons change, they fall for you.” In his intoxicated state, he is realizing his feelings for this girl as well as experiencing a crisis about his own mortality.
“N.Y.E.” fades directly into “Valley Girls,” a song about noncommittal, casual relationships. This song takes place several months after “N.Y.E.” – while the former song obviously took place directly at the start of the year, “Valley Girls” jumps to the middle of the year in the summer. In this span of time, the girl that he sang about has abandoned him. His brother tells him, “Fuck her, find another.” Following his advice, Blackbear is only interested in sex. He is not emotionally ready to invest himself in another relationship. Denial and the undertones of heartbreak are evident throughout the song. In the outro, he repeats, “I ain’t lookin’ for lookin’ for love, I’m just lookin’ for lookin’ for drugs.” The instrumental becomes gradually more distorted, emulating the feeling you experience when you are high, meshing flawlessly into the next song.
“Califormula” picks up right where “Valley Girls” left off. Here, Blackbear is not even trying to replace the girl with a different one any more or trying to indulge himself in sex. Instead, he is indulging himself in drugs. The entire instrumental of this song emulates being high, only fading out in the middle when he sings, “No use in thinking ‘bout it now, cause you’re gone,” and at the end when he sings, “Where are you? Where are you going? You’re gone.” No matter how hard he tried to distract himself in the one other thing that he enjoyed—drugs—he was unable to forget her. She’s constantly on his mind, and the drugs may arguably be making his state of mind worse.
The transition to “Grey L.A.” is significantly less smooth than any other transition on this EP. Immediately, Blackbear begins to sing in a slightly distorted, deeper voice: “Was it even real to you baby? Cause it was real to me.” In this song, his breakdown snowballs. As indicated through the instrumental and distorted sounds, this breakdown is likely accompanied by a high, but unlike “Califormula,” this state of intoxication is not pleasant. It amplifies the worst of his feelings as he addresses his ex-lover throughout the entire song. He questions if she ever considered their relationship to be real because she broke his heart so effortlessly – she probably displays no signs of hurt while he is still suffering months later.
“The Lobby” is an entirely instrumental interlude, acting as a transition to the final song of the album, “Hotel Andrea.”
“Hotel Andrea” is where the peak of Blackbear’s breakdown occurs. After falling in love in “N.Y.E.,” attempting to find solace within casual sex in “Valley Girls,” self-medicating with drugs to get himself high to forget her in “Califormula,” and desperately calling out to her in the midst of his depressive high in “Grey L.A.,” everything has led up to this song. Within this song is the climax of his grieving, represented both through the intense instrumental and lyrics. Blackbear alternates between singing and rapping. The most heartfelt moments are when he sings, “I’m still alive, I’m still on fire for you.” Despite her breaking his heart, he still has so much love for her.
Between the transitions that make this six song EP feel like one cohesive song and the repeating of certain lyrics (“You’re gone, you’re gone, you’re gone.”), “The Afterglow” is truly one of Blackbear’s most impressive collection of songs. The EP in total only spans about 18 minutes – I strongly recommend you take this small chunk of time out of your day to sit back, play this EP in chronological order, and truly listen to every single word that Blackbear sings.
