brakence - hypochondriac ALBUM REVIEW 

dawg I have never been so happy to see people tear melon apart as I am right now

unironically melon’s biggest L of the year

coming back to this 10 months later and i have to say that, as some wise commenter once said "ranking this album this low should be grounds for public execution"

Man said he has more in common with Owl City than Aphex Twin and then immediately said the production on this album is cutting-edge.

so this is how kanye fans felt after the mbdtf review

I'm really glad I went to the comments first for this video. Decided to check out the album after seeing all the glowing praise, and absolutely loved it. Couldn't disagree with this review more

Bro made an album about how he’s struggling w his massive ego fleeting and melons mad that he’s displaying narcissistic tendencies in his lyrics

I've never seen someone so misunderstood the meaning of EVERY song on an album

Wow I haven't disagreed this hard with fantano in a while. This album hits on every level for me.

Brakence’s falsetto scratches my brain perfectly

I think this album is a perfect representation of being young and mentally ill while getting fame on the internet. I wouldn't expect Fantano to be able to relate to these feelings or understand that this is exactly how someone would process them in the moment. It's amazing and a totally unique sound and performance level for this genre. Strong 9.

i feel like the focus on his goofy lyrics really undersells the production on this album its the best ive heard all year

I don’t agree at all im just happy you reviewed it. Personally an 8/10 for me

My problem with this review is he only focused on the lyricism of the album. Not the vocal techniques and complex production Brakence achieved on this. Not to mention the whole record feeling coheive with each song transitioning almost perfectly between each other. And I think the lyrics were more written in the perspective of an alter ego type personality instead of a directly his irl thoughts. In my opinion it was a very good narative throughout the album of how ego can tear someone apart. High 8 for me personality.

Hear me out, I thought the lyrics were perfect for the emotional message of the album. He is continuously leaning into narcissistic traits-grandiosity, emptiness, projection, obsessive intense emotion, hyping up, sinking down, being impacted easily by attention, glamorizing vices, dysfunction, and high-functioning depression-all of which fabricating a masked personally describing their world through a shallow lens. He contrasts that with more thoughtful lyrics about what’s underneath the bravado. I thought it worked. He uses a lot of slang for his age group that’s socially accepted and popular, reinforcing that mask that he’s part of the in-crowd and has amassed fandom, yet underneath that is an isolated feeling person. Thanks for reading!

idk man, i almost feel like you really miss a lot of the aspects that make this album so good

8/10 for sure. But thank you for reviewing this album and getting it some recognition, hopefully for the better. I agree with the lyrics being kind of cringe at times (maybe we are just old- I’m 32) - but not enough to detract from how great everything else is. Production is crazy, unbelievably catchy, great vocals, variety in styles, does all his own shit. He’s very talented. I’m seeing him live next week.

Idc if he rated it a 5/10, I’m just so proud of my boi brakence starting to get more and more recognition since the time I randomly stumbled upon him on SoundCloud back in 2019 😌. For me, deepfake and introverts are some of the best tracks I’ve heard this year

I think that Fantano badly misunderstood the album and that’s why he cant enjoy it all the way Hypochondriac is Brakence on a psychedelic trip as evidenced by the trippy album/single art, his numerous references to psychedelics throughout the album and the production that makes me feel like I’m on 5gs of mushrooms. The different voices that he hears are the different parts of his consciousness or entities in the psychedelic realm; depending on your believes about those substances. And the glitchy production is a metaphor for his ego, or the fake shit in his life/personality. Caffeine is the glitchiest one and the one where he is most out of touch and the title track is where he is the most soberminded. As the album progresses his ego diminishes as psychedelics tend to do to you. starting with caffeine where his ego is gi-fucking-normous. His ego diminishes and is able to see the bigger picture of his mental health. He finds small things like his relationship is toxic on Venus fly trap and teeth, the impact of technology on 5g, or the negative self-talk on cbd and argyle. He finds big things on deepfake like how his whole personalities fake. Then on introvert he has a complete ego death and is “successfully eradicated” and he finds the true reasons for his unhappiness is that he is chasing love from a person who won’t give it to him. Am I making sense? Fantano’s main problems with this record is that it’s centered around oneself and sad in all the worst ways. But the point is that he went on a spiritual journey to reveal the toxic effects of these thought patterns. And that’s what makes it so good, so cohesive. Weather his psychedelic experiences are productive is a different question but they sure are interesting. I think that if Fantano would actually understand this album he would enjoy it allot more than a light 5. I get that the lyrics are not perfect, but I can look past that to give this album a 9/10.

You missed the entire narrative/theme of the album completely.

I’m just glad you started saying his name right

For reference the average score of this album on AOTY is 80/100. I haven’t heard it yet but I just know this is gonna cause a hell of a stir.

a talented teen is still gonna write like a teen. i think as he grows the lyrics could end up matching up with the production quality

I thought the self-awareness and reflection was pretty present/evident throughout. Really don’t think its fair to score a record this harshly because of how the artist’s “personality” comes off.

It's okay melon, maybe one day you will understand the greatness of brakence

I feel like you harped on one issue for way too long, I do agree the lyrics are cringe worthy at times I don't think it ruins the experience for me. The production is AMAZING and the vocals are infectious.

I must have shit music taste. Fantano rated my AOTY A 5?! 😭 I’m glad the comments have my back at least. I truly think he didn’t look deep enough into this one. For me it’s a light 9. (production and singing 10/10)

i feel like him making an album about his ego is justified considering he organically absolutely blew up from Punk2 and started an entire trend and shift to literally everyone in both the emo rap and hyperpop scene trying to copy his sound and production. i think it is justified to have an album where he fights his ego and almost questions how human he is / if he’s just a selfish person. i think if we forget about the couple cornier lines on the album, the overall lyrical content is interesting. he’s going through a lot going from a nobody to the person everyone wants to be. he created a new pocket of organic sounding midwest emo hyperpop that has never sounded so good. i think you’re just a hater fantano and that you’re really missing the point and the gravity that brakence really pulled, making him deserving of questioning / having a crazy ego

part of what i'm sad was glossed over was his age -- he's a young guy, even younger when he started amassing tons of initial fame. all of that 'nobody's like brakence' being fed to him so vehemently and so early on his career no doubt influenced a lot of the ego that presented itself in this project and the transition thereafter. the acknowledgement, and subsequent 'eradication', it takes a lot for ppl that young to see their heads getting too large. and i imagine it fucking sucks being that impressionable in front of so many people, but i'm def looking forward to the growth in his next project (something that i think really starts taking form after deepfake)

This hit personal. Album is a 9/10 for me. Every track hits for me in a few ways. Although their are shortcomings in lyrics, it shouldn't bring bring an album that far down. To me, I feel as if this album developed a new form of experimentation that works in most ways but in some cases do not. Still love the album from the bottom of my heart, and I cant wait Brakence's future.

i hate taking lyrics out of context. I think every lyric from any emo song would sound kinda cringe if it was melon that was reading it like that

It's okay, everyone has to fall out of touch at some point. You had a good run Anthony

I never thought I’d have a MBDTF moment until now

im sorry melon but i already made up my mind i love this album

Brakence: _sees the score_ *Bitch, don’t think you could do me like that*

Hard to watch Fantano complain about some cringe lyrics when Fantano is the lord of cringe himself

Dang, this is definitely a top 5 record of the year for me, but I do agree that some of the lyrics make me raise an eyebrow lmao, but you also gotta get the context in where it’s coming from. Brakence is a young guy born on the internet, and Hyperpop’s typical stylings really lean on that online background so it makes sense one of the pioneers of the sound like Brakence would have his content revolving around it. Sure it’s melodramatic but it always feels genuine, the emotion he brings really heightens the overall experience and grounds what would be an otherwise pretty insane, all over the place project. So yeah, L Melon, but I am glad you reviewed it nonetheless :))))

i disagree tbh, prob one of my favorite albums this year

I think he forgot to listen to the songs and just read the lyrics

this felt less like an album review and more like a psychological evaluation of brakence bro

Melon I love you, but respectfully you’re underrating this album rlly hard. Easily a strong 7 to light 8 for me.

I don't think it does embrace egoism, I see it as more of a concept album of the journey of becoming egotistical and bigheaded, and that getting him nowhere because it's all fake for the sake of it

Bruh lmao a 5? How? This album is at LEAST a 7. “tHe LyRiCs ArE bAD” yeah, Anthony? Well, you’re bald.

It makes me happy to see nearly every comment disagreeing with this take.

Anthony really showing his age with this one. Idk how he loved songs like "fwb" yet this level of braggadocios lyricism is too much for him.

the way you ignored the top notch production, arrangement, cohesiveness and all the good things about the album in this and just focussed on the lyrics that are clearly not up your alley is insane to me

THE ENTIRE POINTOF THE ALBUM IS ITS SELFISH ART. ITS A REOCCURING THEME AND YET YOUR COMPLAINING ABOUT IT BEING EGOTISTICAL?

I always took his "egotistical" lyrics as sarcastic or non-serious. hmm. strange

i wasn’t expecting fantano to just talk about how much brakence sucked him self off on this record and ignore the concept and the story arch of his ego explored in this album but hey each to their own. i know this is a AOTY for me

9/10 for me, been listening to the whole album repeat since it released last week. My only complaint would have to be that I can't focus on my assignments cos I start jamming too hard, love brakence's work !

Mans made an album about how the success he experienced during the pandemic gave him an ego trip and how he handled it, and fantano said, well, he is narcissistic and egotistical

Anthony, you cant give brakence a 0 cause he didn't go bald by the end of the album!.

this is my mbdtf moment

This review almost got personal jesus christ lmao. I get that the lyrics aren't top notch, but it's easily the most nuanced hyperpop project out there, especially since most artists in the genre don't even drop full coherent albums. Idk, I think there's a lot to be desired from the production/vocals alone, but to each their own yo'

I feel like you missed one of the main points of the album, while at the same time brakence is trying to flex that he knows he has talent, he’s also talking about struggling with his self obsession.

This dudes hilarious misunderstanding of this album while calling himself a music nerd is pretty sad to see. Then again there hasn't been a single take from Anthony fantano that was good

I just wanted to point out that the Nike bar is also a Bladee bar. I feel like it makes it a little more clever than your average nike bar

the moral of this story is that you don’t like his personality

deepfake and hypochondriac are actually some of my favorite songs in a while, venus fly trap cbd were really good singles, and I love the alternative vibe on intellectual greed and stung. I really dont like the autotune on his voice on 5g and a small part on bugging!, its actually really grating and idk why he did it when his voice is already pretty good. The production and flow of the songs is so good and I love how the songs evolve and change as you listen, especially on deepfake.

Mid lyrics here and there CAN ruin an album, however with the story being told and the insane production, its gonna have to be a 8/10

okay now we need a brakence interview😂

The whole album is about him letting his guard down. The beginning of the album shows the facade he puts on and the bravado. He doesn't want to be in a relationship. But he is the "bug" that ends up in the Venus Fly Trap(falling for someone). By 5G they've broken up and he's scrolling to distract himself. Preparation is him and the his ex struggling to resolve their issues, and him using psychedelics to cope. By Stung he's hurt, and it literally "stings". Argyle is his lowest point of depression, then deepfake he's being honest with himself. He admits he's been putting up a guise to protect himself. Introvert and Hypochondriac are both reflective and serve as almost one concept. He's accepted reality but he slips at the end of introvert and screams how badly he wanted that person. He's heartbroken. Hypochondriac is the final thought. He just wants some closure. This album was literally perfection from every angle. Including the lyrics that have gone over a lot of your heads. Jesus fucking christ.

“i can’t hit the griddy 😔” -brakence

The ego shit is intentional. Even the corny bars slap. This album bangs. If you're cringing at the lyrics, it just wasn't written for you, and that's ok. The shit connects with young people

The review that literally NO ONE expected

A 5/10 seems wild for an album with some of the most niche production of the year - great production at that (regardless of your opinion on its lyrical content).

Brakence is only 21 …. Only getting better which is rare for an artist. 9/10 album is 🔥. Dude has earned a right to be cocky and is a pioneer in music

You realize this album is literally about him fighting with his ego over the hype and fame he got at a young age, then transitions to him killing it with acid/psychs and realizing "my whole personalities fake". It's over the top at the start of the record for a reason, it's telling a story of what punk2 did to his ego and then how he coped with it nearing the end. For someone who prides themselves on accurate reviews it's really disheartening that you didn't understand this and focused ONLY on the lyrics.

10 minutes of Anthony being offended by “Brakence’s ego”

Damn i went to high school with him. Great to see him doing this good with his music

I think you misunderstood a bit of this album. For example, on Venus Fly Trap, it’s not about him being obsessed, it’s about an abusive relationship.

genuinely never a huge fan of albums. This one was easily my favorite of 2022. it just did not disappoint and at worst it’s an 8.5/10

I dont think Fantano listened to the album as a story or even more than once, him being egotistical is part of the story he laid out and the girl with poison kisses is a manipulative person. It rounds down to introvert at the end of the story where the AI is eradicating brakence, its clearly an overview of his progression as an artist. It shows that brakence split himself as an artist from himself which made him egotistical so the eradication is destroying that split as much as possible. And then hypochondriac is that true brakence/randy combination where he is spilling his emotion and realising he the wrongs he has done. obviously the lyricism isnt the best, but the production makes up for that insanely and i dont think fantano takes it into account. This is at LEAST a 7.

We almost had an L free year melon, better luck next year

I mean, he's young, and like you said the production is really good. It seems you are looking for a more developed mind and self-image out of brakence, but to me it seems he just kinda writes what he thinks? It's just expression for him, and also probably isnt all meant to be analyzed. Like maybe he is just looking for something that sounds good and fits his production, and you are frustrated with his persona that he portrays through his music. I think a lot of people resonate with his probably unhealthy outlook revealed through this music. Just because you do not relate to his mindset in this album, doesn't mean it isn't real for him.

Coming back his take on Venus fly trap was pretty bad. He cringes at the chorus lyrics showing “I take it better when she don’t even ask me” and looking at the song as a whole it’s clear it’s about brakence being in a toxic relationship and the partner possibly touching him without consent? Him saying “I take it better when she don’t even ask” shows how when she does something without his consent, he stays silent, which could be seen as him “taking it better” because he doesn’t say no, but instead doesn’t say anything

BABY DONT BE MY CRUTCH WHEN THIS SHIT GET GORY

Bruh the production alone should bring it to an 7 or 8/10 😂 my guy on crack

brakence could record an album just singing the alphabet and id still bump that shit

Have to say I agree with most of the comments here... giving it a 5 isn't a big deal to me, but your takeaways from the album show just how disconnected you are from this mindset and art style. We agree, the production is dope, the vocal performance is amazing, though the transitions can be a bit jarring, but the lyrical content.... This is prob the biggest Fantano L I've seen. The whole album is about struggling with self awareness, going from extremes of self hatred to extremes of ego. It's not supposed to be self aware. That's why it's gold. You have lines where both extremes, ego and self hate, are exaggerated. It's supposed to be like that. As someone that traditionally listens to a lot of metal, this is the first of this genre that I've really been able to connect with, because it's extreme for the sake of being extreme. A 21 year old's deepest fears, delusions of grandiose, and bitter afterthoughts aren't supposed to sound normal and logical to someone more mature reading them off a screen. Music is about context. Imagine if you took this kind of logical interpretation to the lyrics of a band like Knocked Loose or even Morbid Angel... no shit it doesn't work lol - they aren't trying to be empathic or logical, they're trying to express themselves. It's called having feelings, not thinkings.

Idk, this was definitely album of the year for me. I think it's easy to focus on some of the individual weak points in theme and lyricism but the whole album together told a nice story and had flawless production. Not to mention he made the whole thing himself!

Honestly, I had never even heard of brakence before this album dropped, and I just heard teeth randomly and I haven't been able to stop listening today this album since. Melon is tripping in this review.

I love this dude's vocals so much. They're so unique and nice to listen to. The production was also crazy good. I got a lot of goosebumps from this album. I also really don't care about lyrics that much, although I did cringe a few times from them. But hey, the kid's 20, he has a lot of room to mature, and I'm sure he will

honestly I've never disagreed with you more. I feel like the whole album took an interesting aproach to the standard hyperpop/glitchcore themes and even if some of the lyrics are not the best when taken in isolation they very much don't lower my enjoyment of any of the tracks as brakence's energy and talent both with singing and producing gives off the emotion he is trying to show. I also think he does a great job of talking about social media "addiction" in 5g it just hit really close to home there

u missed the entire point of the project melon

I‘ve never commented on one of your reviews but that score hurts man

what’s so interesting to me on the “brakence has a big ego” take is that i saw him live on the first night of tour for this album (like three or so weeks ago) and he comes off as so nervous on stage, almost shy, even when performing songs like caffeine. just thought i’d add

idc if it’s rated a 5, for me it’s a 10.

speechless lmao. this is AOTY for me, thank you for reviewing tho! wish you liked it as much as me 💀

Melon: I think this album is well written, excellently composed and deftly executed. Me: So you like it? Melon: I hate the hyper pop egoism philosophical stance the album takes so light 5 Me: Wtf

Introvert is one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard

Never heard of this dude before but this review made me check him out - dude's production was actually insanely good. The lyrics were mid but I didnt really care cuz it sounded great

Plot twist: In case you reviewed it he put the AI woman saying “brakence has been eradicated” solely to teach you how to say his name right

I will completely agree there's some corny lines across the project (elden ring bar is perfect example) but the ego related lines you have an issue with, to me felt self aware and mocking of his own persona. Especially from the perspective of the albums concept, you are listening to an alien like extraction of his feelings following a rise to fame and relationship overall culminating in an ego death. I don't think its meant to be interpreted as "these are my thoughts and beliefs" but rather an alien view of the many feelings felt during all of this. Which I think is best painted by the overbearing angsty lyrics. And even if I'm reading into that wrong, it's definitely not enough to taint the album's production and overall creativity to a 5/10? is it? This album is an 8 or even 9 in my eyes cause the only shortcomings were a few lyrical moments that pulled me out of it briefly and even then I have to applaud the ambitious concept especially with all the outside teasers and world he's tried to develop prior to the album.

i know anthony saying this but still secretly listening to brakence in his room corner at night and crying to the new album

i know im a lil late here, but ive never seen lyrics go this far over Tony Tano's head

deepfake is one of my favorite songs this year

vocals and production should make it at least a 7/10, i don’t think lyrics can bring down the project that much

The "just do it, nike" bar is totally a tongue-in-cheek bladee reference

I was so excited to see melon review this, only to be so saddened and shocked by this grandpa take on it