Written by Nick Garrastegui
Possibly the hottest musical trend right now is traditionally rap artists taking on pop-punk projects. With artists such as Machine Gun Kelly and WILLOW working with Blink-182’s Travis Barker, the genre has begun to make its way back into mainstream media.
Before this genre bending explosion, iAmJakeHill quietly began to change up his own music. Jake Hill began releasing music in 2016 and has released a new album every year since and I first found him through his 2020 release, “Autumn Gloom.”
The difference between that album and the rest of his catalogue is stark and listeners could sense it was the beginning of a transition. His normally aggressive vocals were replaced by more poignant, sung ones. And while the album still retained many hip hop elements, it began to use more live instruments as well.
“Dying Lately” is the next big step forward in this new musical direction. It takes the elements sprinkled through “Autumn Gloom” and goes full throttle.
Like its predecessor, “Dying Lately” retains many of its hip hop elements. However, it also features some full blown pop punk songs and even some electronic elements throughout.
The album opens with “By Your Side.” The track serves as a calm introduction to the album, featuring a clean picked guitar over electronic drums.
In my experience, most albums tend to start on full blast and come at you like a freight train. I personally liked that the first track acted in a way that gets you to keep listening.
The title track, “Dying Lately,” was released as a single in November 2020 and preceded the album announcement. The chorus on this song still stands out even after numerous listens.
The lines “ So tell me how you really feel / Not what you think I wanna hear / I’ve done all I can do on my end” are also some of my personal favorites on the album.
“Go if You Want To” shows off Hill’s songwriting abilities and paints the picture of the breakup. The lines “What a shame / I hate the way / You made me smile” provide a snapshot of the song’s protagonist getting over a breakup, but still holding on to some good pieces of the relationship.
Track four, “Nerve,” seems to be referencing the breakup of the previous song but with a newfound bitterness. The first verse ends with the words “Heart made out of coal / Yeah you turned me even colder;” the venom in this line encapsulates the song perfectly.
“Meow” caught me completely off guard on my first listen. It’s an interlude track featuring Hill talking to his cat Ellie and her meowing. There’s really not much to say about it other than it’s an adorable moment before the musicality of the album shifts.
If you’ve never listened to any of iAmJakeHill’s discography, “Poison” would probably also take you off guard. It opens with a chugging guitar in one ear while a lead line plays in the other and you’re soon hit with the curveball of real drums.
The track sounds like a straight up pop punk song with its raucous guitars and punchy drums. The arrangement of the first two choruses also grabs your attention by having the drums drop out and having acoustic guitars come in. The final one however, features the full band coming in to really bring it home.
“State of Mind” is my personal favorite song on the album and is an absolute ear worm. Its instrumental arrangement alone is catchy and changes up with each section, keeping the listener engaged and guessing what’s coming next.
The pre-chorus of “I’m cliché / Look another sad song / And I’ve got the freeway in my sights / Can I get some leeway / Even if I’m dead wrong / I don’t wanna say goodbye, but tonight I’m desperate” are my absolute favorite lyrics on the album.
“Walk Away” wastes no time getting straight to the point with its lyrics. The song seems to once again reference the breakup theme found in the album, but the perspective is that of someone who has healed enough to be on the other side.
The opening lines of the chorus, “So how can I be fine / When everything is crashing? / Why do you cross my mind / When fire burns around me,” are anthemic. This track is the one easiest to picture being played live with a crowd shouting the words at the top of their lungs.
“I don’t wanna die / I don’t really wanna live” are the words that greet you to track nine, “What Gives.” Those lines encompass the song beautifully and show the strange place emotionally the narrator is in. It feels like an emotional purgatory of being burned out and down but not out for the count.
The final stretch of the album moves back to more electronic based instruments and starts with track 10, “Dead Summer.” It carries a similar theme to “What Gives” but feels angrier. It’s a fitting emotional complement to the previous track and feels like it represents coming out of the hole you’ve been in and angry that you were ever in it.
“Covered in Curses” is one of the shorter tracks on the album and clocks in at a hair under two minutes. Its sole verse talks about not wanting to waste life while also being numb and its choruses continue the depressive hole theme. While short, it’s effective in conveying its point and I found it to be one of the most relatable songs for me personally.
“The Story Ends” feels like the encore before the encore. It’s another short song, but it wraps up the relationship storyline that has been following the listener through the album. It’s titled fittingly and eases you into the final song.
“Hate Me” is a quiet ending to the album. Lyrically, it seems that the narrator has a new relationship blooming yet is still plagued with insecurities. It’s a somber end to the album but feels fitting from what we’ve heard on this musical journey.
While the song-by-song description may feel like “Dying Lately” is pure chaos musically, it’s extremely cohesive. Though a first-time listener may feel caught off guard by having a full band on one song and trap beats on the next, Hill does it in a way that makes sense. The track order is done perfectly and you feel as if you’re watching a story unfold both instrumentally and lyrically. It’s a beautiful album from an artist that refuses to stay stagnant musically and grows on me more and more with each passing listen.
“Dying Lately” is available to stream everywhere you listen to music, and you can pick up some merch here. You can also follow iAmJakeHill on twitter @JaaakeHill. You can let us know what you think of the album by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw!
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