BEGINNERS, the alt pop project of Samantha Barbera, shares their brand new single “I Hate That I Love Brooklyn,” featuring Matias Mora and POSEY, an acidic, liquid hot track with industrial punk/grunge vibes and an overarching pop tinge. The edgy, fast-paced tune centers on the corrosive environment of a toxic relationship that is equally thrilling as it is damaging.
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“It was cathartic to lean into my angsty broken heartedness on this song,” BEGINNERS says.
Filled with spiky punk rock guitar and an incessant beat, “I Hate That I Love Brooklyn” captures all the emotional aches and pains of staying in a relationship you know is bad for you. Despite knowing that, logic seems to have been taken out of the love equation, and you continue to stay, hating how much power the relationship has over you. Not just pertaining to a person, the single also represents the toxic relationships we build with external things such as the news, a specific place or even an idea.
“I Hate That I Love Brooklyn” came together in surprising ways, from the title being inspired by producer, artist and frequent collaborator Matias Mora’s “Brooklyn” hat to the real-life breakup BEGINNERS experienced that drove the song’s underlying theme.
BEGINNERS’ new single is the lead single off their upcoming EP, If The World Is Ending, out this fall. Written and recorded in various home studios, BEGINNERS’ new EP is an electric, deeply intimate, yet universal offering that touches on the pain, confusion and angst felt over the last few years, from Trump’s election, the coronavirus pandemic to the reversal of reproductive rights and infringements on LGBTQ+ rights.
“I’m cutting vocals and singing words that I’ve literally just written and talked about in that same moment,” BEGINNERS says. “So the emotions are still really high on the recordings.”
In addition to their new single, BEGINNERS has collaborated with the likes of fellow queer artist Torii Wolf on the PRIDE anthem “Pure Androgyny” and Jarina De Marco on the track “Bad Attitude.” They have also had their music featured in various brand campaigns, and their single, “Start a Riot” was featured in the trailer for Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
A DIY project, BEGINNERS has always been independent, with no record label or advances, but with those all-important master rights and creative control. With a commanding control on their sound, BEGINNERS’ music is often a departure from the ordinary.
Words: Patti Sanchez
For more on BEGINNERS, make sure to visit their website, Instagram and Twitter.
