The vinyl record was released in May 2025 and received a number of positive reviews in online popular music forums often focusing on the storytelling aspect.
https://boredcity.co/album-the-gorgeous-pouting-mr-ar-the-beyond-and-the-better-way/
The collection of songs is autobiographical, though expressed via an abstract lens. Much of the lyrical subject matter of the album is deeply personal. However, as a recording artist, I cannot bring myself to wallow in miserable navel-gazing and trite reflections on life experiences. I prefer music that unearths new perspectives focussing on the smaller things such as cracks in the pavement. I also prefer music that entertains and even amuses.
In a research context, the songs on this record offer novel insights into how fractured memories - both positive and negative - and an ongoing mental health condition can be recontextualised as popular music.
The song “Bring Me the Belt” addresses my experience of severe OCD without descending into self-pity. Instead, the track relates the reality of my condition conversationally and within the framework of a song that hopefully feels vibrant, positive and is ultimately entertaining.
Rapper NF’s track “Leave me Alone” couched in the vibrant language and rapid fire rhyming of modern hip hop also reveals the truth of OCD. With clarity.
People joke about OCD. They think it's funny. It's not. NF gets it with this lyric
Hold up my balloons and cover up my face
I can feel them weighing on me every day
I should let 'em go and watch 'em float away
But I'm scared if I do, then I'll be more afraid
Tell them how I feel, but they don't want to change
Tell them how I feel, but they remain the same
Loosen up my grip, they say that's not okay
Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, ayy, leave me alone!
"The pavement breaks me" is a key lyric in Bring Me the Belt. Hopefully it captures the all-consuming mental burden of OCD like that expressed by NF.
