Romanticizing Heartache: The Music of sombr
How sombr’s musical style helps resonate with students more than anyone else
Picture this: it’s a late September night, you’re driving down dark, rain-soaked streets, twinkling city lights in the distance. The midnight blue sky creeps over the road ahead, and the last of a violet sunset sinks below the skyline. Raindrops hit the windows, streaming down like tears. Your heart aches as you grapple with heartbreak, confusion, melancholy…and sombr echoes your feelings as “back to friends” plays on the radio.
Shane Michael Boose, who most people recognize as sombr (all lowercase), is a 20-year-old singer, record producer, and songwriter. He catapulted into the music mainstream after his songs “undressed” and “back to friends,” which he wrote and co-produced, went viral on TikTok. Since this happened, sombr has become increasingly popular. You may have seen him performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, or owning the stage in his black sequin vest at the MTV Video Music Awards.
My friends first introduced me to sombr this summer. When I searched him up and discovered that he had around 59 million Spotify listeners, my curiosity peaked. It wasn’t until this past August, upon the release of sombr’s debut studio album, I Barely Know Her, that I became enamoured by his music and his image.
Anyone who loves alternative or indie rock is bound to like sombr. His vibe parallels the sad music of Lana Del Rey or Billie Eilish, but I find him more melodic. When I listen to him, I’m reminded of the melancholia of The Smiths, or that of the song “What Once Was” by Her’s. Yet, sombr’s style sets him apart from his contemporaries. I quickly noticed the uniqueness in writing his name and song titles in all lowercase; sombr’s music has been grouped with genres of indie rock, pop rock, and alternative rock, with a range of influences like David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Phoebe Bridgers, and The Velvet Underground. He also has a retro, disco-esque feel evident in one of my favourite songs of his, “12 to 12.”
We live in a time where the youth are very invested in aesthetics and romanticizing their lives. sombr appears to know just how to accomplish this through music, bringing on a vintage, rock’n’roll alternative flair. He’s moody, grey, heartfelt, and poetic, in both his songs and music videos. The piano riffs and somber guitar chords aren’t always slow, but even upbeat, and still transport you to a setting of solemnity and heartache. His desolate lyrics express heartbreak, young love, and being a hopeless romantic. Even more, his fashion exudes a casual, mysterious glamour.
A few of sombr’s tracks feature cover art that showcase him in monochrome (black and white), reflective of the grey, clouded emotions affiliated with his aesthetic. The monochromatic feel comes through in his lyrics, too, evoking melancholy imagery. In his song called “we never dated,” sombr sings, “How come we never even dated / But I still find myself thinking of you daily? / Why do you always leave me aching / When you were never mine for the taking?” His sense of longing is also heard in “undressed” in a favourite verse of mine: “I don’t want the children of another man / To have the eyes of the girl I won’t forget.”
Youth, specifically young adults, aren’t foreign to what sombr sings about. He’s also in his early 20s, making him more relatable. Heartbreak and heartache are the center of our lives. This applies to people who’ve had or gone through tough relationships, a breakup, a crush; those who’ve dreaded seeing someone they once loved, wondering if they’ll move on from them, make amends, or have to fill that void. We try to focus on our university studies, while managing the qualms of our personal lives…coping with grief and emotion. I find that sombr romanticizes heartache, and his lyrics are a bandage for those wounds. He emphasizes the dramatic beauty of this pain. Maybe there’s peace in melancholy, like feeling comfort in rainy days; music that matches our mood can be comforting.
You play sombr when your heart is yearning, when your eyes sting with tears of heartbreak, when you’re lost in love, or at a loss for it. I could listen to sombr on Spotify or the radio, over and over. I always retreat into some daydream, embrace the melancholiness of his music as he echoes what I feel. I take ownership of those emotions—enveloped in heartache but also comforted because of his relatable words. sombr voices our feelings, brings about themes underlying our young adult lives, and confronts them the way we’d want to, but perhaps never had the words for.
