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Brakence
By Louis Morrison
Biography
Randall "Randy" Findell’s electronic glitch Midwest-emo hyperpop project brakence has become a pioneering staple of the hyperpop genre and of the broader Gen Z music industry. Born December 17, 2001, in Columbus, Ohio, he uploaded his first track, “FifthEnigma”, in 2016 at the age of 15. His early works impressively exhibited much of the complex and intricately crafted production and songwriting that his later critically acclaimed and highly successful releases do.
His savant-like ability to design labor-intensive, groundbreaking, ear candy productions quickly boosted his virality on platforms like SoundCloud, TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram. He briefly attended Ohio State University in 2019 before dropping out and releasing his breakout sophomore album, punk2, in March 2020. The album quickly attracted the attention of major record label Columbia Records who signed Findell just 1 month later in April 2020. Multiple tracks from this album found widespread commercial success including “dropout”, which attracted the attention of multi-platinum selling songwriter, producer, and artist Matthew Tyler Musto, known professionally as blackbear. The two released a collaborative version of the track in August 2020.
His most recent album, hypochondriac, was released in December 2022 to even greater critical acclaim and success in the hyperpop space. Since its release, he has been touring the album internationally and collaborating frequently with others in the genre, though he has yet to add any further releases to the brakence project.
Preface
Fans of brakence often refer to him by his real name Randy in concert and because I will be analyzing his intensely personal experiences and emotions, I will also use his real name instead of brakence throughout the rest of this piece to allow the voice that Randy is projecting to shine brighter and more distinctly.
punk2
Randy had always been very open and outspoken in his writing however punk2 was an aggressive step into his now signature raw and direct style of lyricism and subject matter. He describes in detail his personal experiences and emotions throughout the entire album all while crossing and blending genre lines and bringing out meaning via sound design and production styles. The album has the listener peer through a raw, aggressive, and explicit window looking over Randy’s teenage experience. He was only 19 at the time of writing the work but explores subject matter far beyond his years. His major focuses are on relationships, mental illness, and growing up but captures emotions far beyond the basics with his fast-paced hybrid vocalized rap performance style.
The first track on punk2 is “tonight’s no good how about wednesday oh you’re in dallas on wednesday oh ok well then let’s just not see each other for 8 months and it doesn’t matter at all”. The absurdly long title of the track, which was cut short by SoundCloud but can be seen on Spotify and Apple Music, already illustrates the general style and ideas that the album will be exploring and is a reference to a joke told by John Mulaney in his Netflix comedy special Kid Gorgeous at Radio City. In Randy’s first album hypnagogia, he spoke much more optimistically about falling in love and the positive emotions that come along with that but his voice in punk2 is a violent departure from this earlier work as demonstrated by the sarcastic and existential theme of just the first track on the album. The song does not feature any vocals from Randy, instead opting to chop up a voicemail message from his ex-girlfriend into a dreamy psychedelic winding melody that concludes with the same sample but chopped into the melody used at the beginning of the next track dropout.
“dropout” is the second track off of punk2 and goes into the details of Randy’s experience dropping out of Ohio State University. The lyrics of the song are extremely narrative and describe dropping out at age 17 from OSU to pursue music after becoming addicted to marijuana and LSD. The very literal style of writing that Randy uses throughout this album contrasts with his previous works which were far more abstract and emotionally driven. This track is far from the most explicit or graphic on the album, in fact it is one of the tamest, but it still describes dark concepts like addiction and escapism in detail. Randy’s way of storytelling in his songs is awe-inspiring with this track especially taking you right into his shoes and telling you exactly what happened during this tumultuous period in his life.
“fwb” is the third track off of punk2 and takes an aggressive turn into Randy’s love life. The song is highly explicit and covers his complex feelings that developed after a breakup he went through. He talks about the void that this lack of connection left in his life and how he tried to fill that void with his friends ultimately acting destructively and tainting many of his important relationships. The track features a much heavier midwest-emo influence in line with the subject matter. The end of the track transitions into a full midwest-emo breakdown complete with acoustic drums and clean guitars.
“fuckboy” is the fourth track on punk2 and, as the sampled guitar from “fwb” that continues throughout the song would suggest, is a direct continuation of the previous track. This track was the first single released separately before the album and marked the first time Randy revealed his face to the public in the accompanying music video. The lyrics transition from the direct aftermath of his breakup described in “fwb” to how he later took the situation to try and achieve personal growth and mature. He describes leaving social media and taking time for himself to try and become a better person. The song also features many references to drugs and confidence and the production supports this almost delusional sentiment with booming 808s and complex sound design.
The fifth track, “nosering”, features additional vocals from Jack Obrocki known professionally as 50Landing. This track winds back the clock a bit and touches on the initial relationship with this ex that Randy has talked about up until this point in the project. He talks about the complicated relationship they had and how he failed to put his feelings into words during the course of this relationship. This song is the only way Randy could find to get his voice and how he felt out and he does this beautifully. There is another brief midwest-emo breakdown at the end of this track symbolizing the emotional power of his words and brings the listener gracefully into the interlude track.
“drank 3 of my parents' craft beers to make eye contact with you” is the interlude of punk2 and features heavy production and writing contributions from the featured artist Logan Mcleod known professionally as login. The lyrics continue to play on the previous track’s subject matter and bring the focus mainly to the production rather than the content of the lyrics. The sweeping pitch and glitch effects used bring out the voice that Randy is trying to push through the project as a whole and offer a glimpse into his scattered and complicated mind.
My personal favorite track from the album, “rosier/punk2”, is the most violent out of any of the productions but starts off very lightly and beautifully. The SoundCloud title again varies from the commercial release which clarifies the track as the title track of the album. This makes perfect sense as the song covers all parts of the project and encapsulates the emotions Randy is trying to express raw and in detail. Rosier refers to Cape Rosier in Brooksville, Maine which is a small coastal community which Brakence grew up going to and visited with his partner during their relationship. The production at the end of the track takes an aggressive turn into a complex folk fused with hardstyle trap genre which was unique and received widespread attention in the hyperpop space when it was released. The lyrics discuss Randy trying to move on from this relationship in a way more authentic and forward than any other moment in the album. The beautiful guitar melodies mixed in with the violent rolling distorted sub bass perfectly embody the feelings Randy is trying to push through sound.
The next track “prozac” again whiplashes the listener into a completely new sound not heard in the album prior to this moment. The quick intricate upbeat guitar intertwined with the aggressive trap production compliment the flowing syncopated dreamy lyrics. The subject matter is the drugged out states Randy tried to achieve through various substances which can be felt in the production. This feeling and urge is communicated more vividly through song than it could otherwise be in Randy’s spoken words. There is a third midwest-emo breakdown at the end of this track transitioning into the almost entirely clean rock sound of the next track.
The ninth track “ginger tea” is a widely favorited song of the community and departs from the heavily electronic production of the rest of the project. The lyrical content covers Randy’s built up confidence he feels more recently and his success in the industry. The bittersweet desperate tone of the song brings the listener ready for the breakdown section where the instrumental crashes into an aggressive rock tone and Randy takes up screaming again to communicate the deeply complex and broken emotions that he can’t put into words. This transitions into the original final track which is a rap freestyle.
“brakence 2.0 freestyle” is almost exactly what the title suggests and features Randy freestyling over a production heavily contributed to by lo-fi complextro artist Majent. The lyrical content features more delusional sounding themes and confidence that Randy takes on in the latter half of the project starting with an announcement that he has taken a fourth of a tab of acid before recording this vocal. The freestyle mostly covers Randy’s experience in the industry thus far and finding his voice through his music while gaining traction and success. He is aware of and confidently asserts his dominance in the hyperpop space while weaving skillfully through the complex production.
The bonus track present on almost all commercially released versions of the album, “sauceintherough”, is almost a sequel to the album and clarifies what happened after this era in Randy’s life. The song was released 2 months after punk2 and originally appeared as punk2 w/ sauce on streaming services before being absorbed by the original album release as a disc 2 bonus track. Being written and released later than the rest of the songs on the album, the track covers Randy’s new relationship and his confidence and maturity going into it.
punk2 is a vivid, punctual expression of Randy’s emotions and stories during this period of his young life. His lyrics overall are complex and intentionally difficult to decipher. The inflections are noticeably altered from standard English to compliment the glitched and heavy electronic productions on the project turning the vocals into a unique instrument all on their own. This further brings the voice that Randy is trying to communicate out to the surface as he describes his struggles with words in daily life with the intentionally messy writing embodying his emotions.
hypochondriac
Randy’s third album hypochondriac released December 2nd, 2022 is my personal favorite of his works and his artistry is truly on a different level throughout the entire project. It takes a much more positive and confident approach compared to punk2 while still delving into the intricacies of his emotional life and taking the listener through a sonic adventure.
The first track off of hypochondriac is a clean upbeat knocking pretty standard glitch pop track with some midwest-emo breaks and heavily sound designed ear candy throughout. “bugging” is a reference to tripping off of various substances in this case lysergic acid diethylamide more commonly known as LSD or acid. The design of the soundscape throughout this track works to simulate this experience with melting resamples electronic noises and ear candy crispy tactile clicks and sweeps. Randy talks about his continued drug usage throughout the song while also touching on his struggles with intimacy and getting over relationships. The song as whole is an expression of his sometimes unhealthy obsession with creativity and music and destruction of other components of his life as a result. He continues the theme of singing about subject matter that he struggles to otherwise put into words illuminating his true voice throughout.
The second track on hypochondriac, “caffeine”, is a fast-paced and violent hyperpop song focusing on Randy’s continued growing confidence in his work and exploration of his creativity. The album was released 2 weeks prior to Randy’s 21st birthday and he repeatedly mentions throughout this track his success that he’s found before even turning 21. This track is regarded as a groundbreaking example of the modern hyperpop genre and fans around the world were entranced with this production when it was first released and to this day. His blatant references towards success and fame are embodying of the validation he feels from numbers and reviews which this article contributes further to. This voice that he projects through this music may not be his true thoughts and feelings however. The latter half of this project hints at perhaps deeper emotions and the thoughts that Randy would usually leave out of his work.
“venus fly trap” is the third track on hypochondriac and features a much more standard pop structure which significantly contrasts the very hyperpop form of the track directly prior to it. The hook is intentionally catchy and memorable with many more acoustic instruments featured rather than the heavy electronic influence present on much of the project. The subject matter Randy covers in this song is in regards to another romantic relationship he went through in which he felt trapped and misled by this love interest. The emotional manipulation and toxicity of this relationship is represented in the venus fly trap metaphor of the title despite Randy never actually singing those words during the course of the track. This was the third single released prior to the album and garnered significant attention from the fanbase as the style was similar to many of the fan favorites on the last project.
The fourth track, “teeth”, stays on the more pop tone but begins fusing in hyperpop sound design with some haunting synthetic sweeps coming in and out and ear candy electronic glitch noises sprinkled throughout the track. This track has a very unique style with its very oddly designed synthesizer flowing sequence underneath the whole track. This helps match the subject matter that Randy discusses centering around his fragile ego and his fear of losing everything. He describes feeling like an imposter in his own creative journey and his drug use likely is some to blame for this. This track is much slower and more cinematic than anything else on the project and offers a more dramatic view into his life and voice.
My personal favorite upbeat song on Randy’s discography, “intellectual greed” continues on the theme of the psychological toll that fame, money, and success took on Randy. The midwest-emo influence in this track is quite strong but is also heavily fused with the hyperpop and glitch production styles which create a sonic adventure for the listener to experience. The hooks also read more as anthems compared to everything else in the project and really bring out the deeper meaning that Randy is trying to communicate. There are screams and distortion throughout the track heightening the emotions and flow to a different level climaxing in a breakdown at the end which catches the listener by surprise and digs into the message of the song. The final few seconds are occupied by a transition into the next song with a monologue describing coming out of a drug fueled craze. The transition into 5g another highly regarded song on the album is beautiful and haunting.
“5g” is the fan favorite of the album and comes in strong with a message about technology and its effects on Randy’s life. He describes the self-deprecating nature of social media and the unhealthy addiction that results from it. This piercing criticism of technology is in stark contrast with how Randy came to fame through TikTok and other social media platforms. He refers to the internet as a double-edged sword and the song became sort of an anthem for gen Z when thinking about their experience growing up and the effect of technology on that experience.
The seventh track on hypochondriac is “preparation exercise no. 7 (trembling)” which takes a stark turn from the previous song into a much trippier and bassy production with lots of ear candy and flowing resampled synthesizers. The title is a reference to the exercises therapists will often have patients complete to try and treat some symptoms of anxiety or depression. Randy sings about his experience with mental illness in this song and talks about being called crazy and frantic crazy sounding production perfectly delivers this message. His mistrust of doctors and reliance on self-medicating are mentioned repeatedly with the breakdown featuring sounds that seem like they would be heard when having some kind of mental break. The final few seconds are a massive wonky synthetic bass sequence sweeping up and down including some sampled chops from the next track to transition skillfully into it.
The eighth track “cbd” continues with the self-medication discussion and his struggles reaching out to others for help. The production is again quite trippy but catchy to match this message. The chorus is a favorite of many fans due to its heavy pop influence which further contrasts with the darker message of the song. This section of the project is some of the most vulnerable writing that Randy includes in the album with many references to very personal experiences including his struggles with drugs and mental health bringing him to music as a creative outlet. The song ends abruptly symbolizing the end of this theming of the project.
“stung” gets back to the confidence and ego aspect of Randy’s voice in this project. His sudden switch ups and very contrasted themes between songs further add to his message of mental health and his experience in the industry. The production is very bouncy throughout this track featuring much more rapping than the rest of the project adding more context and lyrical content to his story. There is another midwest-emo break about halfway through the song but features much more speaking over the top of it bringing even more emotion and confidence out of the message. The cut to the acoustic piano after this break is gorgeous and hammers on the anti-technology and ego messages with another hard emo drop after this break. There are then some more very trippy and ear candy sounds to emphasize his mental state during this song. There is a much cleaner transition to the next track indicating a related theme.
The tenth track on hypochondriac continues with the mental health theme but turns into Randy’s love life discussing another toxic relationship. He also mentions his bisexuality in the first verse which he has been very open about since his first EP Bhavana in 2019. The song ends very dramatically with the lyrics “I just want to be dead” ringing out over a distorted sample of some kind of sad orchestra. This contrasts with the rest of the song which is mostly confident and telling a message to this partner about growth. There are several mentions of suicide throughout the track though which are masked by the upbeat and laughing sound effects in the production. There is another acoustic break near the end of the song with some country drawls and strings transitioning to the almost old western sound effect that the final lyrics ring over.
The strange sound effects continue into the eleventh track before tuning and turning into “deepfake”. This song covers more of Randy’s self-medication and his mental descent after finding widespread success online. The song takes a violent turn about a third in when Randy becomes angry about his mental struggles and expresses this through screaming and singing. This section is very intricately produced with lots of glitch effects to point towards the anti-technology message once again. The hooks are also quite catchy contrasting with the very dark subjects. There are full on dubstep-influenced basses in this track added to emphasize the emotions Randy is trying to express in addition to heavy distortion. The end of the track becomes very cinematic with trumpets and beautiful guitar melodies coming in before another midwest-emo break prefaced by a blood-curdling female scream. The screams continue through the section as the instrumental becomes more frantic and wild before fading off into a glitched out punk soundscape. The “bloom to death” producer tag which is heard throughout the project ends the song perhaps pointing towards his dark thoughts stemming from trauma and the female voice representing a perceivably foreign influence on his psyche.
The second to last song on Hypochondriac, “introvert”, is pretty much exactly as the title describes. Randy talks about his struggles with his personality in a beautiful, bittersweet poetic form. This is a very raw expression of his experiences and emotions truly getting his voice out through his music. The instrumental becomes very acoustically warm and twangy symbolizing the romantic themes of the song. He speaks in depth about a crush he had but could not execute on due to his anxiety and fear of rejection. The track is very different from anything else until about halfway through the song where a violent bass comes in to represent Randy’s anger and descent into madness from this obsession. The various tags from throughout the project come in a chorus of chaos with gunshots and screams representing Randy’s worsening mental state and loss of hope. The vocoded monologue at the end is a direct spoken proclamation of the purpose of the album stating that brakence would rather make selfish art than serve a real purpose in life. There is a final violent break representing Randy’s discovery of some kind of truth and acceptance of reality before the sad closure of the album. There are some strange watery transitions at the end of this production perhaps representing the release of much of this anger.
The final track on hypochondriac simply titled “hypochondriac” is a beautiful sad love song that is aggressively different from any other sound on the album. There are only 2 instruments in the entire song being Randy’s voice and a very dramatic piano. He talks about this same toxic relationship from throughout the album and how he spent all of his emotions on this person only to be broken by it. He couldn’t commit to anything and perceived this as him messing everything up for himself. The suspended and major 7 chords come in during the last quarter of the song with 2 verses spoken over the top of each other to represent the business and complexity of his mind. I decided to attach these overlapping lyrics below because their contrast is quite illuminating to what Randy is trying to communicate.
A hypochondriac (Stay up 'til five, pass out on the floor)
I think of you blood pressure spikes (I think too much, why can't I let you go?)
I'll have a heart attack (I'm on your side, fuck takin' offеnse)
The things I do to see you smile (But why do you act likе you were never my friend?)
You don't even gotta call me back (You can't forgive and I won't forget)
I just want some closure, little peace of mind (My whole Goddamn life, I was playin' pretend)
You don't even have to give me that (And now I can't get a word in)
Just sit down, listen to me because
One side of these lyrics is understanding and amiable to his partner’s behavior while the other side is angry and aggressive towards this relationship. This is a direct illustration of Randy’s mental space and how he operates which he couldn’t otherwise put into words. His voice comes out in this moment because he is able to put it into music. The song ends with a final proclamation of love towards this relationship and insisting that all that could’ve been done was done but it simply did not work out. There are texting sound effects and an iPhone shutting off sampled in at the very end symbolizing the end of the album and this part of his life.
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