The long-awaited debut album of hyperpop star juno was released at the end of March, giving way for him to stake his experimental claim in the genre with the use of electric instruments and the exaggerated and electronic sound associated with hyperpop.
Though the hyperpop scene is still largely underground, the 18-year-old musician has experimented with pop and alternative sounds to make his discography stand out in the breakthrough genre. With his singles like “insomnia” and “hero” having more than four million listens each on Spotify, each gave juno a chance to nonchalantly introduce himself to hyperpop listeners.
“areyouhome?”, “my fault” and “paresthesia” are the only songs on the album that follow some sort of semblance to the distinctive sound of hyperpop to my ears. These songs are dominated by synthesizers and stand as conventional hyperpop songs in comparison to the rest of the album.
“areyouhome?” opens the album with a finger-plucked guitar that transitions into electronic heavy dance beats. This track, made entirely by juno himself, was released November 2022 with no promotional posts. The song was seemingly well received by fans, as it saw mass-sharing via social media.
“my fault” was released in December, with an accompanying music video. The song has the same sound as an early 2000s summer banger would have but with a neurotic twist in the lyrics that expresses a constant worry of wondering if the person you’re invovled with is okay, with words like “Are you okay? Tell me, are you okay now?/If I cross your mind, just tell me when he’s not around/I pick it up, watch it all fall down/So you can tell me if it’s my fault now”. The electronic instrumentals add to this track as they sound like old-school video game noises and feel as if this whole song is like a game of cat and mouse in the story.
“paresthesia” is the one song that mashes the sounds of the album as a whole into one track. There are heavy electronic instrumentals along with an alternative-sounding percussive drum line that adds more emotion to the song. The layering of the instrumentals in this track adds to the lyrics that talk about the highlife that comes with fame, and how juno is realizing that it’s not as fun as everyone makes it out to be with lyrics like “Monophobia, I’m losing it/I’ll always be alone” spotlighting the loneliness of his success.
The remaining tracks of the album take a completely different sound of their own and highlight the influence that punk and pop punk music had on juno as an artist. Songs like “boyfriend”, “sin inside a dress” and “made me to be” all have instrumentals that revolve around the popular sound of the electric guitars and bass in the early 2000s.
I think these tracks act as a personal take on the shift that is happening within the hyperpop genre where more and more artists are bringing in elements from the pop-rock genres. These sonic elements are still mixed with the electronic pop sounds of the genre, but the added elements of other genres are creating a newer sound that some hyperpop artists like Glaive and Aldn are working to make a staple sound in the genre.
The track that does the best of showcasing this newer sound is “a letter of apology”. The instrumentals are a perfect blend of the pop-rocky guitar riffs and drums with the brash synths of native hyperpop songs. In the best way, this song is the most experimental with those sound elements and allows listeners to see how juno is working with the trends in the genre.
Though this whole album is a look into what juno can do musically, I think tracks “addiction” and “insecure” are the most ambitious lyrically and instrumentally. The former track is a completely acoustic piece that gives listeners a newer perspective of juno as an artist as the song has very straightforward lyrics to show his mindset when he was writing this record (“I told myself that someday it’ll be better than it is/And I’m not there yet, but I’m closing in soon”).
“insecure” closes out the album with a deep dive into where juno got the name of this record. Half of this song is based in the pop-rock genre and then has a swell of layered guitars, drums and synths that finishes out the album. Lyrically this song is more ambitious than “addiction” as this addresses the main theme of this album.
On the night of the album’s release juno posted an explanation of where this album got its name and what it means to him. He wrote about how his teeth had always been a thing of insecurity for him, even stating his nerves when dropping his first music video and having people see him for the first time. “insecure” uses this concern in lyrics like “I could never tell them the truth/I could never show you my teeth” to showcase his struggle with his physical appearance in the limelight of his fame.
“Music shows me that my insecurities can blossom into strengths if I let them,” he wrote in his announcement post. “Even though I wasn’t at all in the best place when writing these songs, I hope they serve as something that can maybe help you when you’re struggling with your own shit.”
