EDM’s favorite bros, the Chainsmokers, released a new single “Sick Boy” on Wednesday and it is a doozy.
To describe it: Imagine the Chainsmokers wrote a stereotypical Chainsmokers track — with their trademark catchy hook — add in meager attempts at “woke” lyrics, Drew Taggart sporting an indecipherable fake accent, and a seemingly ripped off Twenty One Pilots vibe. This is “Sick Boy.”
It kicks off with Taggart solemnly singing, “I’m from the East side of America/Where we choose pride over character,” and, “I live on the West side of America/Where they spin lies into fairy dust,” with a vague, almost-British accent that seems unnecessary.
As Alex Pall plays a simple melody on the piano, a dark, electronic beat builds as Taggart spirals into self-pity, pandering, “Don’t believe the narcissism/When everyone projects and expects you to listen to ’em/Make no mistake, I live in a prison/That I built myself, it is my religion.”
The track then breaks into a watered down, Twenty One Pilot-esque drumbeat with Taggart repeating, “And they say that I am the sick boy/Easy to say, when you don’t take the risk, boy,” that echoes a poorly executed mashup of “Stressed Out” and “Heathens.”
“Sick Boy” is three and a half minutes of the Chainsmokers harboring the idea that we’ve all been so hard on the Chainsmokers, that it’s only reflective of us and that they deserve better is so indicative of the duo’s entire bravado, it’s eye-roll inducing.
Sure, we’ll admit that “Closer” was a simple, but undeniably catchy bop that the radio played to death — but even then, Halsey’s unique, semi-raspy vocals were what ultimately made the track.
Toying with new sounds and genres is common among musicians, and actively keeps things fresh. But this attempt is so self-involved and disingenuous it’s impossible to get past.