I'm excited about this one. The song itself is loud and high energy, but could be easily stripped back. Lots of possibilities. The production is brilliant, and trying to emulate it could be an amazing teacher.

First impressions

The songwriting and content

While Charli XCX is thought of as a party girl who makes party music, "Sympathy is a Knife" is a vulnerable reflection on social insecurity, amplified by thoughts of low self worth and self harm that she can't seem to kick. This sensitivity is easy to miss on initial listen, as the instrumentation delivers on the party expectation. The song bumps.

The composition & production

The song starts with a distorted stabby sound. Knives also stab. Well done, folks. This sound itself has a ton of movement to it, and takes up a lot of space. The instrumentation in the verses is fairly sparse, with this stabby bass sound taking up almost all the instrumentation space. It's hella percussive. The rest of the percussion is a clap on the 2 and the 4, and a faster clapping sound used for transitions and emphasis. We don't even get a kick drum until the chorus.

The verses are sparse, but the choruses are LUSH. The clap and the voice, which were previously dry, are soaked in reverb. The stabbing percussive sound is now an octave lower, holding down the bass frequencies. There is now a steady violin string stabbing out a pedal note. That fast clapping sound is now everywhere, signaling transitions and creating additional tension. There are panned and formant shifted "Ohhhh" vocals that serve both musically and as rhythmic emphasis.

My single favorite element of the composition is the tension created by delaying words and beats. "Don't know... (pause, with fast clapping to create more build) why..." or "All this sympathy is just a... (pause + fast clapping for tension) KNIFE!" Even the bass going into the chorus is delayed. Charli sings "Cuz I-IIII" and the bass comes in a beat after the second I syllable. These choices create a ton of tension that is released at unexpected times.

Charli's vocals sound great and relatably human, even through layers of tuning and robot pedal note harmonies.

My plan for the song

I first want to study the sound space. I have no immediate clarity on direction, but I know I will leave this round a better producer if I take the time to study and emulate the production on the song. Beyond that, I want to learn it on guitar and play it stripped down and acoustic. We'll see what I end up submitting, but I'm certainly excited to explore.