The latest single from Harvey Brittain, "obsessed," is an emotional dive into a complicated situationship. With jazzy reflexes, pop shadows, and indie-pop shine, "obsessed" reverberates with the kind of tipsy intimacy that comes from losing your head too quickly, too soon.
Brittain has had cross-continental, heart-wrenching experiences that lend to compelling pop storytelling. Written from the emotional rubble of we're just friends' relationship careening into romance, "obsessed" is a portrait of despair and longing. The line rides the throat like a secret murmured into a black Uber ride home. The song's production is gorgeously claustrophobic. Lush synths spin around Brittain's voice as it wobbles between openness and obsession. It's clear without taking itself too seriously, the kind of track that sounds like you're driving home in the rain from a party you never should have attended. Brittain, a native of Preston, England, now based in Los Angeles and with roots in Berklee College of Music in Boston, brings a surprising level of musicianship to the indie-pop realm. Brought up on a diet of Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, with a background in piano since the age of four, his jazz-kid roots manifest themselves subtly in the chord progressions and harmonic choices that give "obsessed" its odd-ball, sophisticated edge.
There's something extraordinary about this track, not in its production, which is polished and bright, but in its sincerity. This is not heartbreak disguised as empowerment or memories speckled with glitter. It's the obsession. The hope and the repulsiveness of realizing you care way too much.
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