''Drive-By Lullabies'' is the debut studio album by the American musician Quinn, released on September 17, 2021, by Dismiss Yourself. Recouping from a period of depression after purging her songs on

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, Quinn began producing the album herself. She had the goal of making the album sound messy and viewed the album as a trial run. She altered her vocals in various different ways, including raising the pitch of her vocals on the album to hide her deeper voice. She incorporated

field recordings Field recording is the production of audio recordings outside recording studios, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It can also include the recording of electromagnetic fields or vibrations using dif ...

that were recorded herself into the album's sound. ''Drive-By Lullabies'' is an

experimental pop Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental music, experimental techniques such as m ...

and digicore album, departing from Quinn's previous hyperpop sound. Music journalists also listed numerous other genres the album's sound was influenced by and can range from. It explores themes of depression and

suicidal ideation Suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, is the thought process of having ideas or ruminations about the possibility of dying by suicide.World Health Organization, ''ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics'', ver. 09/2020MB26.A Suicidal i ...

with songs written about Quinn's experiences in real life. "Coping Mechanism" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

in May 2021. The album received critical acclaim; ''

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'' and ''The Fader'' considered it one of the best albums of 2021, while ''The Line of Best Fit'' deemed it one of the best hyperpop albums of all time.

Background and production

The American musician and record producer Quinn started releasing

hyperpop Hyperpop (sometimes called bubblegum bass) is a loosely defined electronic music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated during the early 2010s in the United Kingdom. It is characterised by an exaggerated or maximalist take on p ...

music in late 2019. She became a pioneer of the genre and gained a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

after her singles gained attention. Specifically, her 2019 single "I Don't Want That Many Friends in the First Place" gained popularity in 2020 on social media platforms such as

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and

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; around the same time, ''The Fader'' labelled her "hyperpop's once and future queen". She first hinted at a debut album in July 2020, stating that there would be "lots of big names listed as features". In March 2021, she removed all hyperpop songs from her

page, stopped doing collaborations, and deactivated her

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account. Following this, she revealed she had gone through a period of severe depression and began creating

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

-influenced

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

, and

jungle music Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed in the 1990s out of the UK rave scene and Jamaican sound system culture. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, ...

without vocals or lyrics under the aliases Cat Mother and Trench Dog. In an interview with ''Business Insider'', she stated that no longer wanted to cater to her fans and preferred to "make silly little songs" in her bedroom. Quinn produced the entirety of ''Drive-By Lullabies'' herself. Being a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

, she raised the pitch of her vocals on nearly every track of the album; she describes her voice as being deep, stating, "I'm sure you don't want to hear fucking

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

sing to you about

dysphoria Dysphoria (; ) is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. It is the semantic opposite of euphoria. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation. In psychiatry Intense states of distress and uneas ...

". She also altered her voice in different ways on numerous tracks. Quinn has described ''Drive-By Lullabies'' as a "test run", and had a goal of making it sound messy. She sampled sound recordings she took months prior to the album's release, such as a dripping faucet, birds chirping, buzzing insects, and vehicles driving by. Its title was inspired by the album's "chaotic mixture of harsh and soft noises"; Quinn commented, "You got a combination, a beautiful disaster". The album's interlude was freestyled and recorded in 2018. The album cover is a photograph of Quinn's face hidden behind a

Pioneer DJ Pioneer DJ is a brand of DJ products, including CDJ, media players and DJ controller, DJ controllers, turntables, DJ mixers, headphones, effects units, and loudspeakers. Originally part of Pioneer Corporation, the company became independent in 20 ...

controller; Mano Sundaresan of ''Pitchfork'' felt the artwork reflects the album's sequencing. Samuel Hyland for ''Office Magazine'' wrote that the cover "quickly became an image seared into the brains of longtime listeners, and soon-to-be fans alike".

Composition

Overview

''Drive-By Lullabies'' is an

and digicore album with elements of

dark ambient Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...

and drum and bass. Some music journalists felt it had departed from Quinn's previous hyperpop sound. Press-Reynolds wrote that it can range from industrial bass, to

glitch A glitch is a short-lived technical fault, such as a transient one that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among pl ...

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

, to

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegaz ...

; retrospectively, he considered it as a combination of

twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 ''NME'' compilation '' C86''. Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence. Some of its defining features are boy-gi ...

, ambient, and glitch-rap containing "facemelting" bass. ''The Fader'''s Jordan Darville highlighted its "progressive

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

composition", while Sundaresan thought its sound design "reveals new layers with every listen". He also mentioned the album's "terminally online" feel, as if a teenager was switching between tabs and Internet rabbit holes. Noah Simon for ''The Line of Best Fit'' called the album "an eclectic

smorgasbord Smorgasbord or Smörgåsbord (, ) is a buffet-style meal of Swedish origin. It is served with various hot and mainly cold dishes. It assumed its present form in the 19th century, following old traditions. Smörgåsbord became known in the US ...

of ideas", highlighting its mix of acoustic, experimental

indie folk Indie folk (also called alternative folk) is an alternative genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Characteristics The staff of '' Paste Magazine'' said in 2020: "No music genre ...

lofi hip-hop Lofi hip hop (also typeset as lo-fi, short for "low fidelity") is a style of lo-fi music that combines hip hop beats with elements of chill-out. The name refers to the unpolished, low fidelity production techniques common in the style. It was pop ...

reminiscent of the rapper

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, to

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

atop 2-step drum patterns. The lyrics of ''Drive-By Lullabies'' indulge in themes of depression and

and were written about Quinn's real-life experiences. Several songs are about her personal anxieties, such as dealing with enemies online and her constant fear of the end of the world. Ambient passages and found sound connect the album's verses, making the album's genre exploration blend. Sundaresan called the album a "portrait of a small celebrity navigating personal life". ''

'''s Günseli Yalcinkaya highlighted the album's "anxious" atmosphere, intense guitar riffs, and chaotic noise. Sundaresan compared some songs to Quinn's 2019 song "MBN", while others lean in the vein of dark ambient and drum and bass. He also described the album as having a

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

-like feel.

Songs

The opening track of ''Drive-By Lullabies'' is "The Word Is Ending Soon!", which contains lyrics about isolation and depression and showcases Quinn's voice emerging from a mix of guitars and static. The following track, "From Paris, with Love", draws back to Quinn's hyperpop and digicore roots. It begins with dark

synthesizers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

and trap drums with

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

noise in its second half. It concludes with a noisy

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

instrumental. "Can You Really Blame Me for How I React?" is followed by "Coping Mechanism", a track with crushed vocals atop glitches and

birdsong Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs (often simply ''birdsong'') are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalization ...

. Its refrain was called both "hilariously morbid" and "calm" by Sundaresan: "Have you seen enough people die? I didn't think so". "Birthday Girl" is an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

song containing a sample of a man screaming at another person atop a piano. At points, the other person will yell back with a frightened voice; the song finishes with a sample of a physician speaking on depression. The track was written about the time Quinn ran away from her house after arguing with her parents on her 16th birthday. Yannick Gölz for ''laut.de'' said it can deeply hit "you in the gut" and described it as the "song equivalent of a picture speaks louder than many words". On "Silly", Quinn combines multiple vocal layers with a piano

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

, creating an emotional effect. Sundaresan described it as a mixture of the soft music from JRPGs and 2021 digicore releases such as

Jane Remover Jane Remover (born September 26, 2003) is an American musician. They made their debut with ''Teen Week'' in 2021, a progressive pop and digicore EP with themes of adolescence. The same year, they released their debut studio album, ''Frailty (Jan ...

's ''Teen Week'' or Kurtains' ''Insignia's Manor''. "Perfect Imperfection" also calls back to Quinn's hyperpop origin; it incorporates a

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless b ...

rhythm ahead of synthesizer noise wall. The lyrics of "Mallgrabber P" express complicated emotions between two people using "endearing" verses. "12/25/18" presents a

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

Southern rap Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, ...

freestyle over the beat of

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

's 2012 track " Hands on the Wheel"; Sundaresan described it as "a kid's earnest take on ''Some Rap Songs''". A

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

with glitch influence, "Change That" presents Quinn singing "See I want something to do with you" to a love interest. It marks the beginning of a three-song sequence that conclude the album's relationship narrative. "It Molds Where It Doesn't Dry Correctly" presents Quinn experimenting with lo-fi guitar melodies. "School Days" is a stripped-back emo-trap song that employs an acoustic guitar into its finishing "recorded lullaby", as described by Gölz. It is followed by the penultimate track, "And Now a Word from Our Sponors!". The album concludes with "I'm Here for a Good Time, Not a Long Time", a track with breaks that fragment the song's lines.

Release and reception

"Coping Mechanism" was released as the

from ''Drive-By Lullabies'' on May 19, 2021. The album was released on September 17, by Dismiss Yourself. It was released to critical acclaim, according to Darville. ''Pitchfork'' gave it a positive review upon its release; Sundaresan complimented its genre blending and emotional depth. He felt the "emotional core" of the album connects its multiple different aspects; however, he thought it had too many moving parts for a debut album. Gölz reviewed the album positively for ''laut.de''; he said its

do it yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals ...

(DIY) and "amateurish" feel created a "unique soundscape". He called the album a "devastating listen" and thought its sample flips were ahead of its time. Darville called it a "restless and wildly engaging collection of songs". ''Dazed'' considered ''Drive-By Lullabies'' the 18th best album of 2021; Yalcinkaya lauded Quinn's production abilities. ''The Fader'' ranked it the year's 23rd best album; Darville said "it wasn't the record uinnpromised; it was something better" and felt she succeeded at trying a new sound. In October 2021, the staff at ''laut.de'' deemed "From Paris, with Love" the 12th best hyperpop song of all time. Gölz wrote that it "doesn't fully reflect the breadth" of ''Drive-By Lullabies'' and its techno ending "feels more inviting and intuitive than most of the other songs". In 2022, ''The Line of Best Fit'' deemed ''Drive-By Lullabies'' the 15th best hyperpop album of all time. Simon said it "completely shattered expectations of what her debut album would sound like", with particular praise for its "mature" songwriting. In an interview with ''The Fader'', Quinn said the album made people take her seriously as an artist and began to rate her critically.

Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Quinn.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

and the liner notes of ''Drive-By Lullabies''. * Quinn – music, cover art * Moa – mastering * Mal – cassette, CD * Sticki – cassette, CD * Ambient Bird – artwork, cassette, CD * Fooyepont – artwork, cassette, CD * Ichgo – CD

Release history

Notes

References

{{reflist 2021 debut albums Experimental pop albums Experimental music albums by American artists Pop albums by American artists Hyperpop albums deadAir Records albums