Betafish is the hyper-pop artist of your euphoric daydreams. For his debut single this song comes out and makes an impression. With punchy almost over-the-top drums and classic synth-pop piano throughout, ‘Cry About It’ is a strong first single for 18-year-old Betafish. There is something almost infectiously relatable to this song. The uplifting instrumentation combined with the harsh reality that life is just a mess.
The introspective lyrics come as a welcome yet catchy perk to a fun hyper-pop track. The line in the chorus "crying all night in a parked car, I'm a fucking god I'm a rockstar" is comical as it points out this contradiction without our own egos. We can feel on top of the world one minute and the next you are crying alone in the car. This song is perfect for when the world just gets too much but you still have this underlying desire to feel invincible.
About Cry About It:
This track was definitely the first that really hooked me on the sound I'm exploring in this project. The auto-tuned and pitched vocal stacking, the over-the-top drums, and the crazy synth and piano lines all come together to form this sound that I had been trying to create for a while but I could never quite get until I made this song. It was definitely my gateway drug into a more hyperpop style.
My favorite elements of the track are the vocals and piano. I think the use of a programmed piano sound adds a really interesting aspect to the sonic space and adds something you might not expect. I have a technique I often use in many of my songs of heavy vocal layering and processing. That creates this sound that I really love of almost this chorus of affected vocals all coming at you. I also try to use my voice in other ways besides just melody, adding in more arrangement elements as well.
The best way to listen to this song is blasting it at 3am while driving way too fast in a residential neighborhood while you feel like absolute garbage. The mood I was trying to capture was this sort of false confidence mixed with a deep insecurity but owning yourself in spite of that. This song is all about loving yourself and thinking "hey I'm fucking awesome" even if you feel like shit at that time.
About Betafish:
Betafish is the electronic brainchild of Alexander Waters, a 18-year-old college student and musician who draws many different influences into a unique sound that attempts to push its creative limits while still appealing to a wider audience. Betafish is Alexander’s love letter to the electronic hyperpop of the internet generation. Taking inspiration from artists such as glavie, ericdoa, underscores, Brakence, Mura Masa, pinkpathersss, and The Kid Laroi, Betafish is an exploration into a bombastic yet contemplative electronic sound that attempts to communicate themes of duality, ecstasy, and conflict in the modern age. Often dubbed by its creator as “kid-with-a-laptop music”, Betafish is an artistic vision that attempts to squeeze as much as it can out of minimal resources; the entire album being created with just a laptop and microphone.
Links to socials:
Twitter: @betafish7555
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betafish7555/
Release by Hannah Schneider