We were doom-scrolling through Instagram when a post abruptly caught our attention: a single cropped circle of what looks to be the average roadside, albeit slightly greyer. Upon closer inspection, a lone coyote sits on the uneven asphalt. The image is oddly reminscent of the “Twilight” color scheme, if the saga had been condensed into a geometry problem and accompanied by the caption “14 minutes https://dominicfike.com/.”
On April 23, Dominic Fike surprised his fans by dropping a 14 minute “music video” to Youtube and his website. This was followed shortly by the release of an 8-song album on Spotify and Apple Music on May 3.
The release was unexpected but refreshing. In the era of instant-gratification, where attention spans last a maximum of 60 seconds, big hit artists are catering to the trends by releasing shorter and shorter songs, in hopes of attaining Tik-Tok virality or Spotify (and Apple Music, for inclusivity) loop-ability. A 2018 study conducted by Michael Tauberg found that, over the past two decades, song lengths on the Billboard Hot 100 have lessened from well over four minutes to three and a half.
Fike’s most recent album, “Sunburn,” released last July was the perfect summer soundtrack. Lyrics are repetitive and for the most part, nonsensical, but Fike’s vocals and inventive instrumentation lend cohesiveness and make it listenable. Comprising of mostly bangers, the album’s 15 tracks are all relatively short, averaging about two minutes each.
Similarly, “14 minutes” captures his unconventional style in the same way that his previous releases have, but in a more subdued way. This new release stays true to form in regards to length, as it contain eight distinctive tracks over a length of 14 minutes and 17 seconds. With the exception of “THICKRICK,” song titles are deliberately lowercase, which suits the mood.
Instead of the bright, hyper vocals that listeners are generally accustomed to, his new release is mostly “vibey” and features softer tones and lazy tempos. In a way, he seems to be returning to his roots, as “14 minutes” is not dissimilar to “Elliot’s Song” from his role in the HBO series Euphoria or 2018’s “King of Everything.” Fans are already speculating that this release may tease the second edition of the popular song.
As for the release itself, we had omnifarious opinions from track to track, as Fike essentially gave us eight snippets of unfinished, (and untitled — for the sake of clarity, we used the fan songs. However, some have more promise than others, which we’ve included reviews for.
The abrupt halt of track five, “bowiebox,” heralds the start of track six, “misses.” It begins with a playful nursery rhyme-like instrumental that unexpectedly hits with a deep intensity that catches us off guard. Then enters Fike, whose vocals burst in with raw and unbridled energy. In this song, the lyrics revolve around a woman who, according to Fike, seemingly lives a life of pretense, concealing her flaws, and is seemingly oblivious to his affections. Unlike previous tracks where the instrumental shines, Fike’s vocals carry the narrative, accentuated by sweet vocalizations in the background. The snippet closes just as it began, with Fike repeating the key line “Oh I loved you, miss.”
Thirteen minutes and four seconds in, the mood changes, once again becoming upbeat and melody-led. A delicately catchy opening riff, reminiscent of the intro to Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk,” is soon joined by Fike’s breathy vocals. Lyrics blur together, and his words are rarely the focus of the song, instead serving as an accompaniment to the rushing guitar that continues until the track’s abrupt end, in which listeners are met with silence and a shaky recording of the singer himself.
“Coast to Coast,” as fans have dubbed this minute-long track, (as it turns out, the official title is “coast2coast”) is definitely one of the highlights of this release, despite its short length. Unlike the others, the aggressively catchy guitar melody imparts a sense of impatient, childlike cheer, even if the lyrics themselves are the opposite. Fike babbles mostly, but there are a few references to his troubled childhood, a common theme throughout his work. The release ends on this happy-ish note, an unexpectedly welcome contrast to the subdued qualities of the previous tracks.
Overall, this release seems more like an unfinished glimpse into Fike’s musical projects than a fully thought-out composition. He once again proves he’s not like other artists in both the lack of publicity surrounding his surprise release and his range of stylistic elements that are effectively displayed in “14 minutes.”
All in all, we give this a three out of five stars. If only there had been more bangers than flops, which, unfortunately, there weren’t. Still, we’re hoping for more releases before the start of the next school year.
We’re looking forward to a Dominic Fike summer.
