Photo Credit: Sam Dameshek

Matthew Tyler Musto has worn many caps in his almost 14-year-old career, releasing album after album and solidifying himself as one of the most consistent artists in the industry. His latest album, Everything Means Nothing, is just an extension of the testament towards his undeterred commitment as an all-around productive musician. Blackbear has been somewhat observant towards the audience he may or may not have intentionally chosen –that is –people just wanting to have a good time and vibe and less about the content or meaning behind the lyrics.

An up-to-date observer of his time, he released his album as a light-hearted homage to the digital age. Everything Means Nothing focuses on the concepts of love and happiness in the information age. In short, the album is a go-to playlist for Tiktok users. To his credit, Musto has always been grateful to the Internet for his success, and much of his work deals with giving back to his audience in some shape or form. After five studio albums and a monumental ten-million-dollar deal at Interscope, the artist is certainly in it for the long run, and with good reason.

The album, however, only hits in intervals. It opens with genuine, satirical energy on the track “hot girl bummer”, which is a parody of “Hot Girl Summer” by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign that has already lit up like wildfire on Tiktok. Everything Means Nothing tries ridiculously too hard to be funny at times, similar to how someone would try to explain a joke to you or a viral meme. And if you are not familiar with that thought, then here it is  –if you have to explain a joke, it automatically means the person is not going to have a laugh at it anytime soon.

The rest of the album is a sad last-ditch effort to lure the audience by making it feel there is more to it than an Instagram story with a quote or caption blatantly seeking attention. An effective narrative device –but one that makes a listener become desensitized, nonetheless. Relying on stale Internet stories to produce an expression, his lyrics come off as something like this: “Turn a big mood to big mood swing.” Although, Internet sensations Lauv and Trevor Daniel join in time to lift the album up with their pitched vocals, and enjoyably contribute to the overall themes of the album. However, in conclusion, Everything Means Nothing sounds like how that friend of yours who is too cool to express himself tries to do so. The album is overall a lot more enjoyable if the listener is only focusing on the instrumentals instead of the content and lyricism being offered.

Written by: Masud Zaman