December 2022 rounded out an incredible year for music with a final month of exciting, energetic releases. I really loved the futuristic electropop on Lexie Liu’s The Happy Star, as well as Rural Internet’s heavy industrial hip-hop on SAINT ANGER. However, neither record blew me away as much as the introspective emo rap of brakence’s hypochondriac.
In a year filled to the brim with amazing music, from the early-month Album of the Year contenders from Beach House and Black Country, New Road, to the summer hits from Kendrick Lamar and black midi, to the end-of-the-year candidates from Alvvays and Quadeca, I went into December near-certain that the best albums of the year had already been released. But I should’ve known how naive that was to think in a year like this, because despite how much I loved countless releases this year, hypochondriac is easily my album of the year.
hypochondriac is the third album from 21-year-old producer/singer-songwriter/rapper brakence and the first project of his that I’ve heard. From the opening moments of the record, it’s clear that the sonic palette is overwhelmingly timely, sounding like the culmination of the past decade of musical trends. Combining a trap beat with midwest-emo/math rock-inspired guitars under brakence’s AutoTuned vocals, the opener “bugging!” sets the tone for a record defined by the synthesis of sonically disparate styles that share similar typical thematic foci. The two most prominent styles on this eclectic record are emo rap, the genre which brakence’s music is typically described as, spearheaded by artists like Lil Peep and Juice WRLD in the 2010s, and midwest emo, a niche indie rock subgenre begun by bands in the 1990s like American Football and Sunny Day Real Estate that saw a resurgence in the late 2010s, defined by a certain vulnerability and sonic “rawness”. brakence, seemingly effortlessly, blends these disparate styles in a unique blend that combines the sleek, melancholy trap-influenced production of emo rap with the intense passion and technical guitars of midwest emo.
The record is roughly split into two halves, with the first part (from “bugging!” to “5g”) consisting largely of tracks that emphasize energy, passion, and sleek production, while the second half (from “preparation exercise no. 7 (trembling)” to the closing title track) highlights vulnerability, sensitivity, and lyricism. Of course, that’s not to say that either half lacks in production or lyricism – brakence consistently shines on all fronts across the record.
The first half contains my favorite song on the entire album: “caffeine”. Adding in a healthy dose of Jersey Club to the base midwest-emo-rap formula, “caffeine” shows brakence at his most blistering, delivering boastful verses with such intensity and speed that his voice cracks as he stumbles over his words. The last minute of this track contains some of the most mind-blowing production I’ve ever heard, as the syncopated bass kicks speed up while brakence’s voice grows increasingly distorted, leading to a climax of incredible energy and passion.
On the second half, the album’s climax, “deepfake,” is an excellent culmination of the album’s lyrical and sonic threads. It’s easily the noisiest track on the album, taking the contemporary influences of the rest of the album and turning the intensity to 11. brakence lets go of the bravado that has defined much of his lyrical content across the record, instead analyzing more deeply the ways in which his rise to success has ruined his personal life by inflating his ego and destroying his relationships. He feels trapped in the musical niche he’s built himself, believing his life is “an endeavor to die or create”. On the penultimate track, “introvert,” he makes the decision to re-evaluate his priorities, singing, “I never say this shit, but I only wanted you”. It’s a simple, even cliched, statement, but after an album of emotional turmoil and anger at himself and others, this admission of vulnerability rings true and genuine.
hypochondriac ends with a touching, understated ballad that reprises some key lines from other tracks that effectively wraps up the album’s core thematic narrative – that of brakence learning to prioritize connection over ambition. It’s a narrative that’s been explored quite a few times in music, but never before with the passion and innovation that brakence brings on this record. I really can’t overstate how exciting an album hypochondriac is. It brings in so many disparate influences and synthesizes them in such a fluid, progressive manner that leads to a coherent, yet constantly shifting aesthetic. If you enjoy music, I can almost guarantee that you will find something to love on hypochondriac. If it’s the only album you listen to all year, so be it – it’s easily the best one.
