On Aug. 22, Sombr (Shane Boose) dropped his debut album, “I Barely Know Her,” which had been highly anticipated by many of his fans. Sombr’s album incorporates genres such as indie pop, alternative pop, and indie rock. He takes control of the sound and puts his own style on it, making it his. The album has ten tracks featuring, “back to friends” and “we never dated” which were released as singles that preceded the album, which were all met with positivity and shared a common theme: love, relationships, and heartbreak. These were created using Boose’s own personal experiences growing up in New York— finding love, blossoming relationships and dealing with heartbreak. This resonated with many listeners as they found experiences they could relate to.
As you press play on the album, your ears are met with the opening drums and guitar lick of Sombr’s song “crushing”. “I miss the days when we were crushing on each other / Now you’re just crushing my soul, my lover / I miss the days when you could never love another / Now you’re just someone I’ll never recover”, Sombr sings in the chorus of “crushing”.
The song expresses feelings of a lost love and reminiscing on a past relationship. With Sombr referencing back to the early days of a relationship where they were just crushing on each other before the hardships came along within the relationship. How he longs for those days back, but now they are just hurting each other.
The next notable track of the album is “12 To 12”: A song in which Sombr explores infatuation and focus on a singular person. He is consumed by thoughts of them from the hours of “12 to 12” and is not interested in anyone else. The song then goes on to address the singer’s uncertainties and desperation for this person, which could be seen when he writes“In a room full of people, I look for you, would you avoid me or look for me too?”
The fourth track on the album,“back to friends”, a charting hit for Sombr–confronts the painful reality of trying to revert to friendship after intimacy. He emotionally belts out, “How can we go back to being friends, when we just shared a bed? / How can you look at me and pretend I’m someone you’ve never met?” The song highlights the singer’s struggles to move on and make sense of the heartbreak. The lyrics capture the pain of being left behind while the other person has moved on. This denial leaves the singer feeling emotionally vulnerable and struggling to accept the end of the relationship.
The seventh track on the album, “undressed”, is another ballad about love and heartbreak that graces Sombr’s freshman album (a term used in music to signify a first album). “I don’t wanna get undressed for a new person all over again”, Sombr passionately sings in the song “undressed”. The song seemingly alludes to the singer not wanting to get undressed for a new person, but it is far more complicated than that. While getting “undressed” is typically a physical action, in this song, Sombr means it to be more of an emotional action. It’s about the fear of opening up again and facing vulnerability. It is about yearning for familiarity and a resistance to entering the unknown. It reflects the hesitation to peel off emotional layers and start over, uncertain of what lies ahead. “There’s nothin’ worse than seeing your lover moving on while you still suffer” continues to sing about the realization that the relationship is over and not wanting his love to be with another person.
Throughout his 10 songs on the album, Sombr tells a story, with the album serving as a book and each song as a chapter. He uses his pain and grief over love to create an emotional piece of art which clearly strikes a chord with listeners—particularly teenagers and young adults who relate through shared experiences and similar stages of life. Overall, the album is exceptional and promises a bright future for Sombr. It puts a spotlight on his emotional and raw storytelling, lyricism, vocals and catchy tunes.
