The Worst Version Of Myself

Tatyana “Down Bad”

The lyrics of “Down Bad” are extremely “written in 2023” but the sound is more like something that would’ve appeared on this site back in 2003-2007. It’s right on the edge of electroclash aesthetics, has a pulsing synth groove that resembles at least three LCD Soundsystem songs, and the vocal melody sounds like something that could’ve been on a Sugababes or Girls Aloud record. But despite sounding so much like music from nearly 20 years ago, it doesn’t hit as retro, maybe because technology hasn’t changed so much in that time to signal any sort of obsolescence. The lyrics are pretty standard for pop these days – bitter and cutting lines about a bad relationship steeped in pop psychology, but I really like the way Tatyana sings “falling for you is such a chore” in a taunting sing-song cadence, and how the verse about this person not having a girlfriend for “more than a couple months, maybe a year” is delivered with a mix of pity and dismissiveness.

Buy it from Bandcamp.