Sunburn Album Review: A Scorched Memoir

Music  

Sunburn Album Review: A Scorched Memoir 

By Dylan Barbee 

                                                            Photo Provided by @dominicfike on Instagram 

                                                                               Release Date: July 7, 2023

Before alternative pop artist Dominic Fike signed a $4 Million deal with Columbia records, became a main character on the controversial HBO show Euphoria, and was getting co-signs from artists like Drake, he was sleeping in different houses or abandoned cars every night and day drinking on the beaches of Naples, Florida. The same day he released his 2018 debut EP Don’t Forget About Me, Demos he had to drive his mother to jail hungover so she could serve her two years for drug-related charges. Luckily, the Don’t Forget About Me, Demos EP that he created on house arrest and his 2020 debut album What Could Possibly Go Wrong caught a lot of attention and the lower income trauma he had to face with his family in Naples on an everyday basis was a lifestyle they never had to live again. 

 

Fike’s second studio album Sunburn was released on July 7, 2023, and contains 15 songs that span across a quick but fulfilling 39 minutes. Fike shares very personal stories on this album when it comes to reflecting on his life before this relatively newfound fame. Sunburn is an album about Fike finally accepting the trauma from his past and his rough upbringing in Naples, Florida by filling songs with disoriented memories of his adolescent years through vulnerable songwriting.  

 
Sunburn begins with the song “How Much Is Weed?” where Dominic Fike raps about the difficulty of having to become the provider for his family at an early age over a fast paced but cozy sounding guitar loop mixed with an impressive drum pattern. “And mama had to put a down payment by herself and ain’t nobody even try to help, She went to jail and shit went left, and I was left, I did my best, I got arrested,” Dominic Fike raps in an emotionally distraught tone almost as if it’s painful to remember this period of time in his life where his family constantly had legal troubles. “How Much Is Weed?” is an excellent intro track as Fike perfectly sets the reminiscent tone of the album and hints that although his future is bright as a rising artist in the industry, he can’t help but feel nostalgic about his dark past.  

 

Dominic Fike is also nostalgic when it comes to reflecting on past lovers. On the song “Ant Pile” Fike tells the story of how his idea of love and having a crush evolved as he grew up. In elementary school he played in the school yard with his crush, in middle school he navigated through puberty which caused his relationships with crushes to be dictated by awkward tension, and in high school he was a part of the hookup culture. These distinct stages of impish love he experienced caused his ability to care for another person to grow more with time as he became an adult. “Mona Lisa” is a song that has to do with Dominic Fike’s recent ex-girlfriend and how it has been difficult for him to move on from her. This song illustrates how Fike values this specific woman as much as people value the famous Mona Lisa painting. Fike tells us that love is an inescapable feeling and something he cannot ignore even when there’s distance between them or when their relationship is over. On songs like “What Kind of Women” and “7 Hours” Dominic Fike makes it clear that he is desperate for a romantic connection with someone. “Seven-hour drive just to get beside you, And I treat it like life or death,” Fike sings on “7 Hours." 

 
The most well-made song on Sunburn is “Dark.” On this song Fike shows some admiration for what his life was like as a struggling musician trying to become successful. Now that he has reached the heights he has always dreamed of; he can’t help but compare his past life to his new life of fame. Even though throughout the album he describes his past as traumatic, he longs for those simpler days when his life was not always so political or put on spectacle for everyone to see. Fike illustrates on “Dark” that his past life was filled with him being trapped in poor living conditions with his family and friends while his life of fame is mostly filled with loneliness and the constant quest for a sense of identity in the upper class. When it comes to the songs on Sunburn that I would unlikely revisit there is just one and that would be “Mama’s Boy”. The rhythm of the song is just confusing and Fike’s delivery was filled with awkward pauses between each word he spoke which made this song almost unlistenable for me.  

 
However, other than “Mama’s Boy” I feel like Dominic Fike did an amazing job at encapsulating what his life was like before he became a highly marketable alternative popstar. The stories filled within each song came together to create a vivid self portrait of Dominic Fike as he pays homage to the state of Florida and his family. It’s clear that he needed to make this album as it marks the turning point in his life where he can finally revisit his trauma from a more mature perspective and acknowledge that the painful experiences he lived through shaped him into the artist he is today. 

Sunburn gives audiences a chance to understand how Dominic Fike was forced to lose his innocence at a young age due to the conditions he was raised in. Through the experiences he had as being the caretaker of his mother and little brother, failed relationships with significant others, and becoming a product of his own environment, Fike still carries the weight of these memories. Sunburn always fades away after time, but just like memories it will always find its way back to you. 

Rating: 9.2/10