Most people know artist Dominic Fike from the popular series Euphoria, where he played the character Elliot. Elliot sings a song in the show that actors Zendaya and Fike worked on together. This appearance on Euphoria paired with his artistic talent as a singer-songwriter spiked the popularity of his music.
Fike’s childhood was riddled with drugs and domestic violence. He grew up with both of his parents being heroin addicts and his father was absent for most of his childhood. When Fike was ten, his father returned to his life for about a week, teaching him a few guitar chords. This sparked Fike’s love for music, lyricism, and storytelling. Due to his mother’s drug addiction issues, she was in and out of jail frequently. This forced Fike to stay in different homes, like his older brother’s, distant relatives, or his parents’ friend’s house. Regardless of his tough home life, Fike spent copious amounts of time hanging out with his friends around their neighborhood. When he hung out with his friends and older brothers, they would freestyle and experiment with freestyling.
Back in 2017, Fike released an EP called Don’t Forget About Me on SoundCloud. Many people fell in love with Fike’s music, but unfortunately, he couldn’t enjoy the hype he was receiving since he was in jail. Fike was charged with battery of a police officer in 2016. This was not what landed him behind bars though, instead, it was the fact that he blatantly broke his probation. Fike ended up failing a drug test, which was a violation of the agreement between him and his probation officer. Even though Fike was in jail, the EP released before caught the attention of several record labels, causing a bidding war on who would bag Fike first. After he signed to Columbia Records for a reported $4 million, he officially released his debut album in 2018, Don’t Forget About Me, Demos. His song “3 Nights” ended up in the top ten in many different countries. Fike claims he used part of his first check from Columbia to get his mother a lawyer, who had been sentenced to prison on drug charges.
Since then, Fike has released a total of four albums, one of which was released this month. Fike teased this album on his Instagram account on April 23, just posting the cover art with the album title and a link to his website. Fans rushed to the comments, confused and excited about this surprise album, but still unaware of its release date. The day before the album’s still unknown release date, Fike dropped a 14-minute video of him running with every song on the album playing in the background with the caption “14 minutes of music that almost didn’t see the light of day. that makes it feel even more right. from me to you! lightspeed!!”
The album contains a total of eight songs which when added, all add up to 14 minutes. This new release captures Fike’s unconventional style in the same way his previous releases have but in a more subdued manner. Instead of bright vocals and instrumentals, this new album is reminiscent of his second album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong, with soft tones and lazier tempos. The opening track is titled “megaman,” a minute and 17 seconds long. This song has no true meaning, as all of these tracks are unfinished pieces of work that Fike released on a whim. He mentions a woman in his house at two in the morning, then brings up how he “ain’t proud to be an American” and talks about “shooting from the hip like Mega Man.” Fans speculate that this could be a reference to how prominent mass shootings are in America. This theory is amplified by the fact Fike was raised in Florida, where gun crimes are prominent. The vocals during this song are whispery and quiet, with some high notes and echoing going on in the background for dynamics. The instrumental is a very slidey acoustic guitar, spattered with the occasional drum kick or hit. The overall song vibe is moody and indie.
The instrumental then transitions into a piano intro for the next song, “hi grace,” and the vocals start almost instantly. The beginning vocals are very autotuned and almost robotic, talking about being bailed out of “here.” While “here” is never defined in the song, it can be inferred as a place of emotional confinement or loneliness. It reflects a deep yearning to be emotionally rescued and pulled out of emotional turmoil by a partner that Fike desires. The first verse begins with Fike talking about orange wine and peaches, which sets a scene of sweetness and reminiscence. The lyrics “You’re better now than you were then,” expresses the sentiment of appreciation towards their partner, as if they are seeing them in a new light after many positive changes and developments. Due to the title, the song is speculated to be about one of Fike’s past relationships, Grace Nickels, who is also Emma Roberts’s sister. It seems as though the two have broken up because since then on April 21, Fike posted a time-lapse of him cuddling with a different woman. Later in the song, Fike mentions his issue with addiction, talking about “buzzing like an iPhone,” which is a metaphor for buzzing with drugs and that being his “charge” of sorts.” Overall, the song is about the sweetness of being in a changing relationship with someone.
The third track on the album breaks the theme of all lowercase letters, titled “1.23.23.” This song is plagued with a feeling of contemplation and reflection. The introduction is repetitive and talks about “skin breaking,” “scars thickening,” and “blood changing pigment.” Being in love and battling addiction is a repeated theme in this album, as Fike talks about “spinning in her dad’s garage” and “she was in love and then the plans were small again.” Fike contemplates time and change, while bittersweetly reminiscing about the good days while losing himself in the flow of time.
The next song in the album is the only other song that breaks the pattern of lowercase titles. “THICKRICK” begins with a little instrumental moment, followed by Fike’s vocals talking about being scared and lied to. This song discusses how people put on personas to seem tough and intimidating when truly everyone is emotional deep down. In the second verse, Fike says “Yeah, like I said I can cry too, Don’t be tricked by the tattoos, love, Two knees, any minute I might fall to ‘em.” He’s explaining that even though he has tattoos and puts on a persona, it doesn’t diminish his emotional capacity. Surely, this is a reference to how men these days feel the need to hide behind toughness when emotional due to the fear of being seen as “not masculine” or “wimpy.” Fike later then says he acts like a kid when he is cornered and that he knows sometimes everyone acts childish. The bridge follows this statement with “Point is, I know just how you feel,” then switches to “Problem is, I know just how you feel.” It’s very much a song about embracing the emotional and childish side and acknowledging that not everyone is tough and nonchalant, no matter how hard people try to be.
The next song has barely any lyrics and is majorly an instrumental. Almost an interlude of sorts, “bowie box” is a funky but sad song, filled with whimsical vocals and a slidey acoustic guitar in the background. After the lyrics, which talk about not being able to give up anymore. For what reason Fike can’t give up anymore, it doesn’t say, but he says “It’s as hard as it looks, sometimes, After all, That’s as far as it gets, sometimes.” Even though the going gets tough, giving up is out of the question now seems to be the overall message of this song. The instrumental in this song is amazing and sounds genuinely good considering this is unfinished work that wasn’t fully polished.
The sadness from the past track doesn’t last for long as “misses” begins almost immediately with an upbeat, almost nursery rhyme-like instrumental that completely switches the tone. This song is about missing a past lover, speculated to be Hunter Schafer, Euphoria co-star. He reflects on their relationship, saying “Oh I loved you, miss, And you will be grieved, I swear.” Fike sings about how he truly did love their relationship and will continue to grieve the loss of their love. He also mentions how he won’t be blamed for the split, as he loved her through it all and truly wanted the best for her in the end. The instrumental background has the same sort of theme and tune as the rest of the songs, all containing drums and a guitar of some sort. There are some echoing vocals on this track with some ad-libs going on.
“to say to say” begins with a short but upbeat guitar riff, which goes straight into Fike’s vocals. Even though this song, similar to “bowie box,” has very few lyrics, it has great meaning behind the lyrics. This song’s lyrics delve into the complexities of human behavior and societal norms. The lyrics “They didn’t look sad when you fell down, but now that you’re gone,” highlight the cruelty that some are treated with when they exhibit real signs of mental illness or struggle. The lack of empathy during someone’s time of need immediately switches to an overabundance of attention too late. The lyrics “They like to laugh at your expense, Right before it ends,” bring up how the individuals who disregard people’s struggles are then confronted with their absence and the consequences of their lack of care.
In true Fike fashion, the album ends with an upbeat song that some have dubbed the title “song of the summer”. “coast2coast” immediately begins with Fike’s vocals, which are then cut off by a guitar strumming. The song is about a past and unknown romantic fling, where Fike reminisces on all the childish things he used to do, such as writing postcards to her. He ends up finding peace with the situation with the lines “And everything makes sense.” A short but hype song about a fling that didn’t work out closes out the album of Fike’s unfinished but released work.
All in all, the album is an amazing album. Even though it is unfinished, it still feels like enough work was put into it prior to the release to give it a sort of rough draft kind of feel while sounding amazing. The album does have a sound that’s reminiscent of What Could Possibly Go Wrong, which hopefully means a fully completed album will be released sometime soon with the same vibe. As much as I enjoyed this small release of music, it has left me craving more of Fike’s catchy lyrics and funky beats. Hopefully Fike finds himself back in the studio sometime soon to release another album.
