Friday 10/2: p4rkr—"oblivion" Feat. blackwinterwells
Today, we share our thoughts on a recent song by the Virginia hyperpop artist p4rkr (osquinn).
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc.
Today, we share our thoughts on a recent song by the Virginia hyperpop artist p4rkr (osquinn).
p4rkr—"oblivion" Feat. blackwinterwells
Eli Enis:
We’ve covered a few other hyperpop mainstays (glaive, Fraxiom, Kero Kero Bonito) since we launched this newsletter in late May, but we’ve been long overdue on a p4rkr plug. The 15-year-old Virginia artist, who also goes by the name osquinn, is arguably the most promising up-and-comer in the rich, exciting, and already oversaturated new wave of internet pop music. Like many of the artists in this scene, p4rkr started out making more standard-fare emo-rap before she came out as trans earlier this year and really began to find her voice in a form of auto-tuned emo-pop. Her music can be quite downtrodden and minimal (the track “mbn” is a stinging lo-fi ballad about the life she wish she had) or angry and intense (she demands to be remembered in “jealousy’s a bitch, I hate her”). I think she has a preternatural grasp on melody, a unique delivery, and a compelling lyrical style that’s both casual and intimate; transcending tired emo-rap tropes and boring woe-is-me-isms while salvaging the form’s most authentic feelings of angst and pain.
Her best song is probably the pumped-up and mindlessly hooky “bad idea”, which was produced by another buzzy hyperpop artist named blackwinterwells. The latest collab from the two of them is a sidewinding journey called “oblivion” that features three or four distinct movements and vocals from blackwinterwells. The first half is sort of like an acoustic emo track sung through auto-tune with a refrain that’s as sweet and cute as the lyrics are self-loathing. Then there’s a sudden faux-ending before a beat switch that gives the song a more giddy, glitchy trap vibe—including a winking sample from “bad idea”. Blackwinterwells doesn’t have much of a vocal presence on here, but she has a great ear for production; vibrant when it needs to pop and subtle when p4rkr’s vocals demand the attention. Also, I don’t know if that breathy “aaahhhhhh” in here is her tag (I also hear it in “bad idea”) but it should be cause it’s cool as hell. p4rkr rules, blackwinterwells rules, “oblivion” rules. Get hip.
Eric Bennett:
Every time Eli sends me a song with lowercase stylization, I know I’m in for a treat. When “oblivion” starts up with a noodly guitar, it’s easy to assume you know where the track is going. Folks, there is absolutely no predicting the twists and turns this song goes through. From the emo-adjacent start, to the regimented electronic middle, rife with robotic vocoder, to the brief pause full of nature and birdcalls. p4rkr creates a lovely little world inside the song, despite calling it “oblivion.” That's all before she shifts into a portion that is somewhere between hyperpop and drill. At just 15 years old, she showcases more range than artists with full careers. Absolutely thrilling to witness.