When the indie-pop artist iamnotshane lays a title as provocatively melodramatic as “Juliet, I Think I Wanna Die” on you, you half-expect a tempest of melodramatics. What comes next, however, is an impeccably crafted Alt-Pop journey, a track that apes its melodramatic premise through a decidedly earnest take, twisted round with unassuming hooks and a nudge of self-aware humor.
There’s an addictive tug to the rhythm from the very first beat, easy enough to settle into comfortably from the start, but with enough underlying tension to suggest emotional complexity. The voice of iamnotshane weaves through the track with an equal share of openness and ironic composure. He sings like he’s on a stage of his own invention, one foot in genuine feeling and the other in an ironic remove. It’s that duality, the back and forth between earnest confession and knowing performance that provides the song with its captivating pulse.
The theme is theatrically rich. “Juliet, I Think I Wanna Die” is not merely a shout-out to Shakespeare but an open door into the theatricalised stage of romantic fixation. It’s a phrase that overstates heartbreak just enough to be heartfelt and just enough to acknowledge its overstating. There’s a gallows humor here, a dramatic hyperbole that reads and sounds real in the only way modern alt-pop can, earnest, un-self-loathing heartache that knows exactly who it is.
The instrumentation walks this line perfectly. There is also a sense of modernity, too, in the pulsing synths that are here catchily unavoidable, but not cold, in the stunning touches, subtle but sharp, and in the way the song never loses its footing and forces the next moment forward. When the chorus drops, there is a gratifying mix of bittersweet release and pop sugar that is just sweet enough to sink your teeth into, even as the title reminds you that you are dancing with melodrama.