Three studio albums, a couple high-profile acting gigs (the most notable being Elliot in HBO’s Euphoria) and a kid later, and Dominic Fike feels spiritually restless in a way that is one part exciting, a few parts concerning.
Fike’s newest album sports many of the hallmarks for which the artist has become known: a unique, experimental blend of indie pop energy with cooler, calmer hip-hop beats. Unexpected features from other genres include everything from the work of Americana/folk artist Emma Ogier to synth-pop singer Grace Ives to rapper Danny Brown. Songs switch up their tunes halfway through, and genres are jammed together like a kid playing with action figures. The album is inconsistent, but sometimes sincere, never boring and even a bit addicting—similar to the life of constant creating and partying Fike so often describes.
This is the type of work where every listener will have a different favorite track—if they mesh with any at all. Fike’s work is so unique that a skippable song to one person may be another’s favorite off the album.
Fike makes an effort to cut out the addictions present in his life—a valiant goal that will hopefully better his relationships with others, including that with his own young son—but the remnants of vapid jubilations still stain the album. Some sexual references, mentions of drugs and consistent foul profanities abound in this bizarre, experimental pop statement.
The track “Cabby” forgoes the harsh language of most of the other songs on the album. It also finds Fike, along with featured artists Emma Ogier and Love Spells, at his most spiritually introspective. Lines like “I’m not sanctified, I’m not Jesus Christ” and “if this wine was water, I’d be fit to drive” seem to hint a flirtation with the concept that some form of deeper spiritual calling may be more fulfilling than the fluid nature of artistic stardom. Although, by the end of the track, the line “you’re gonna trick and deceive me, but you complete me” implies that the distraction of human connection, specifically of the romantic variety, may once again take precedence.
Album ender “SPOTLIGHT/INNER CHILD” contains a prolonged conversation between two artists about seeking the beauty in all aspects of life as inspiration for art. Overall, it’s a sweet conversation, but it’s peppered with profanity, and the speakers are hardly role-model worthy. The track ends with a repeated line “trying to explain that I love you the best way I can.” Who the “you” refers to is unclear, but the album’s teenager-like earnestness makes me believe the “you” is all the people Fike interacts with on a regular basis.
“LILY WAS A CAVALIER” contains the repeated line “the rich, we eat ‘em,” which feels bizarrely misplaced in an album that isn’t in any way political otherwise. This track also sports a few uses of the f-word and some sexually suggestive lines, such as “she f— me better than my exes” and “her body is color.”
“DOOMSDAY” paints a picture of a relationship with little exclusivity that is about to implode on itself. The lyrics “any way you shake it, I can see us tumbling” and “growing up is stress, sex, self-respect” certainly don’t bode well for either the relationship Fike is experiencing nor his outlook on romantic connections.
In “CITY OF STEEL,” Fike feels trapped by the perceived lies of his romantic partner. A handful of f-words and a use of “b–ch” bog down this paranoid anthem of idealized independence.
Between the catchy beats, the sonically investing blend of unique featured artists and the general sense of optimistic anxiety the album carries, How to Quit Smoking can certainly be an addictive listen for those on the same wavelength as Fike. In a recent interview with up-and-coming horror director Curry Barker, Fike bounces between topics quicker than a pinball machine, not lingering on any thought for longer than a few seconds—perhaps lest the vapid nature of his conversational topics become overly evident.
Fike is clearly an artist with a lot on his mind, a man not satisfied by the success of any individual song or acting performance. In fact, he seems to feel a need to keep producing and interacting with art as much as humanly possible—perhaps to better understand the world around him and the people who populate it.
This album, which spends much of its time centering around themes of the devastation of unrequited love and the excitement of a new romantic connection, seems to find some level of enjoyment in the chaos. The final track, which features an extended conversation with Fike’s friend and fellow artist (as well as convicted felon) Tay-K, says that life is all about learning experiences—and when viewed through that lens, it can be equal parts wonderful and beautiful.
While our uniquely human emotions can imbue our lives with a specific beauty compared to the other creatures of the earth, living solely to feel the highs and lows of the emotional spectrum hardly seems like the end goal of a satisfied existence.
According to the album’s final track, “SPOTLIGHT/INNER CHILD,” Fike has been attempting to cut out every addiction from his life, the last being the habit of smoking. Perhaps that’s why this newest album is a tad cleaner than his past work: Other self-diagnosed “addictions” that the artist may have been chained to—such as sex, relationships and drugs—are mentioned here and there, but they’re not the center of the album.
Fike’s frenetic sound and constant push into the depths of the human spirit will likely be the inspiration for many an artist who may feel a similar pull to use their work to capture the uncapturable.
One can only hope that within all of Fike’s soul-searching, he might someday be pointed to a power higher than himself and all the other artists he is so earnestly aiming to understand.
Jonah Parker’s first interaction with Plugged In came when he was just five years old, after his parents read a review for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and deemed the content too intense for him. What started out as a contentious relationship between Jonah and a staff of reviewers who knew not of his existence would later turn into an appreciation for the site’s ability to present media content in a way that was accurate and fair. Jonah enjoys analyzing how our entertainment echoes the creativity of our Creator while finding glimpses of Biblical truths within every genre. He believes that Robert Pattinson’s Batmobile is the perfect mix of cool and practical.
