Watsky has burst back onto the independent music scene with his new album “INTENTION.” This album is the final release of a trilogy including “Complaint” and “Placement.” Watsky started the tour for this album in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, finished the U.S. part of the tour, and is now just over a week away from wrapping it up in Auckland, New Zealand. This tour comes three years after the “Placement” tour was cancelled due to a global pandemic. The album comes five years after the trilogy began, and it’s unlike most of the work Watsky has previously released.
THE PLAN IS A MESS
The album starts with an “airiness” in Watsky’s voice that fans have given mixed reviews on. However, with the journey that the world went on to get to this album, “THE PLAN IS A MESS” is a great start to “INTENTION.” It starts with “Yes, the plan is a mess. Mess is part of the plan,” which seems very fitting for what happened in the three years between this album and “Placement.”
WHAT’S THE MOVE?
Song number two had Watsky fans excited when they saw the T-Pain feature. “WHAT’S THE MOVE” is the perfect song to dance along to, and one of the most upbeat songs on the album. It also starts as a continuation of “THE PLAN IS A MESS” as it starts with a call out of Watsky’s name after “THE PLAN IS A MESS” ends with “you can call me by my family name.”
Watsky and Recchio dance during “WHAT’S THE MOVE” | James Taurman-Aldrich | Argonaut
ROLLIN
“Rollin” is the first of three songs on the album to feature Camila Recchio of Feed the Biirds. Watsky does all the verses while Recchio does the chorus, and their voices work together perfectly. This song, written by millennials, addresses how the next generation is expected to fix the problems caused by previous generations. Watsky starts the song by singing “When we were younger, grown folks used to say “Our bad that we f—d up the earth, but we know you’ll clean up the mess we made. We know you kids will break the curse.’” The song ends with a final chorus in which Recchio sings “The kids are always better when they’re rollin’. They always build a better wheel,” implying that the next generation does step up and fix the mistakes made by those that came before them.
Paper Nihilist
This song has a lighthearted beat, but the lyrics are weirdly deep. The chorus is “You say that you believe that, that nothing matters. I see the logic, but do you feel it in your heart tonight? What do you feel deep in your heart?” On top of just being a good song, the animation for the music video is also very well done, and was made by Watsky himself.
AWW SHIT
This was the first song on the album that was really pushed out, and it’s great. Watsky collaborated with another independent artist, and childhood friend, Hollis, along with Gifted Gab to put together a masterpiece. “AWW SHIT” is the perfect song to roll the windows down and sing with your friends while driving 80 miles per hour down I-90. The lyricism from Gifted Gab is some of the best on the album, and the listener can tell that all three artists had fun in the studio on this one.
SO FAMOUS
It’s difficult to nail down the meaning of some of the lines of this song, but it seems that most of them are talking about media in some way. However, most of them also just feel like the same weird lyrics that Watsky has been putting together for years.
THE TRUTH
The truth is, although I’ve listened to most of the songs on this album multiple times, I listened to “SO FAMOUS” for probably the second time while writing this article. “THE TRUTH” is another song on this album with top-tier lyricism, but one bar that sticks out is “But if you hear me say that you got today, then you do, and you should believe me ’cause I’m the f—in’ truth.” If there’s anything that every person needs, it’s a bit of motivation to get through today from an independent artist that writes weird music.
MILE AWAY
Unlike “SO FAMOUS,” I’ve listened to “MILE AWAY” quite a few times. This song, featuring Rachel Zegler, is in my top three from this album. “Life is mean, it’s been months since I’ve seen her, but I still got that picture of us out in Argentina on my wall. Why’d I do it again when I know how it ends,” is a line that most people can relate to, and one of the best lines in the song.
DOT XXX
The most important thing about this song is that it included a crucial hint for the treasure hunt. Watsky hid nine treasure boxes around the world, and a big clue for finding at least one was this song. It’s also the final song on the first part of the album. The next nine songs were released two months after the first nine, making “INTENTION” twice as long as the first two albums in the trilogy.
NOTHING LIKE THE LAST TIME
The beat for “NOTHING LIKE THE LAST TIME” starts out with a slowed down sample of the trumpets from “WHAT’S THE MOVE,” then the lyrics start by sampling “Welcome To The Family,” the first song in the trilogy. It also samples beats and lyrics from a lot of other Watsky songs, too many to list here.
SEARCHING
“SEARCHING” just kind of starts and ends, almost as if it doesn’t fit with the album. In fact, quite a few songs on the second half of the album are just like this. However, the beat and lyrics of all the songs fit the theme and vibe of “INTENTION.” It’s almost like “NOTHING LIKE THE LAST TIME” is the true end of side one and “SEARCHING” is the true beginning of side two.
FLOAT
During his show in Portland, “FLOAT” came after the Feed the Biirds version of “Sloppy Seconds” and “Paper Nihilist.” It’s a slowed down, light, airy song that broke up a slow and more upbeat song. It holds the same purpose on “INTENTION,” just in reverse order. Although “SEARCHING” has an airiness in part of the beat and vocals, it’s still more upbeat than the song that follows “FLOAT.”
NEW LINES
The beat of this song, especially in the beginning and the chorus, takes the listener to a sunset on the beach. It sounds like what every movie uses when they fade up towards the sky while the sun goes down behind the ocean. However, despite some heavier lyrics, the song has a super chill vibe to it. One line that sticks out is “While I’m alive I still got time to draw these lines somewhere else on my face,” meaning that even when life is difficult, there’s still time to smile and make new memories.
BREAK MY HEART
I’ve listened to this song the most out of any on the album over the last couple weeks, and have come to the conclusion that it’s at least an attempt at a love song. The line “You better break my heart before I break yours” is repeated multiple times, but lines like “I won’t do a love halfway” give it the vibe of a love song.
FOOL 4
Camila Recchio returns to make the perfect partner for “FOOL 4.” This song is more upbeat, and is definitely a love song, at least partially. The first verse ends with the line “It’s like I’m a flower you put up on a shelf,” but then the chorus says “Oh, but I love you. Oh I love you, and I’m a fool for you.” Watsky and Recchio turn this song into a conversation, and it almost sounds like a passive aggressive argument between a couple that is at least trying to make things work.
YOUNG RUETTIGER (I DO WHAT I WANT)
Watsky and Abhi the Nomad work together to make one of the most upbeat and faster songs on the second half of the album. As the title states, it’s a song about living life and doing what you want. The chorus asks two questions. The first is “How will you fit in, while you try to win in this world of sin,” and the second asks “how will you go play, while you find your way in this world today?” The first is answered “I do what I feel like,” while the second is answered “I do what I want.”
CHANGE ON THE WAY HOME
Recchio makes her final appearance in this slow and airy song. This is the second to last song on the album, and Watsky asks and answers a question that is very fitting to be asked near the end. “Can I still be someone new? Well shit, I’ve done it before.” In comparison to almost everything Watsky has released up to this point, “INTENTION” is something new. The airiness of his voice and the slower songs are all new to fans. A lot has changed from “Headphones,” the first song of Watsky’s first album, and “TO FEEL A LITTLE LESS ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE,” the final song on his most recent album.
TO FEEL A LITTLE LESS ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE
Although this song is mostly instrumental, there are two light voices in the background. The first one says “He is 16 years old from San Francisco. I need to hear you, give it up for George Watsky!” The second is similar as he says, “Now stepping to the stage, 19 years old, representing San Francisco, this is George Watsky!” This is most likely a callback to the beginning of Watsky’s career when he entered the spoken word realm at the age of 15. He did very well in the Bay Area, winning around a dozen slams. He also was on the team that took fourth at the national contest in 2005, which happens to be when he was 19.
Overall, while “INTENTION” may not be Watsky’s most beloved album, it finishes the story that has been told over the last five years. It makes sense that this project started with “Welcome To The Family” and ended with “TO FEEL A LITTLE LESS ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE.” Watsky found a family when he started slam poetry, and once he started releasing music, he created a fan base that not only feels like a family to him but feels like a family to each other. “INTENTION” may be the end of one story, but it hopefully isn’t the end of the whole story.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25