The Sounds and Stories Behind The Work
The last four years have produced a definite truth: change is the only constant. Some may say change is the easiest part of the journey, but moving on without looking back is where we falter. After four years of unwavering change, alternative artist Carti Ferrari is returning with a new full-length album on July 7. With a title like You’ll Burn Your Eyes Out, one would understand why Carti didn’t look back, keeping on a path that led to a fresh yet familiar collection of sound.
Switching Things Up
BandWagon covered Ferrari a couple years back amid the release of his catchy trap single, “The Farthest.” Although the single has made its way to the album’s final tracklist, Ferrari’s narrative has significantly changed. What was once a “boxed-in” creative process for the young trap artist has blossomed into a collaborative and holistic approach to music.
“I felt like I had been dialing into the same sounds and aesthetics, and I wanted to branch out,” Carti Ferrari says. One listen through the album shows beyond a doubt that since “The Farthest,” he’s reached further—but he didn’t do it alone.
“I have to give my producer, Adam, a lot of credit,” he explains. “We wanted to have fun making the music. What went from just picking a beat from one of his beat packs turned into building instrumentals from the ground up.”
A Colorful Palette of Sounds
As fundamental as it sounds, being a part of a song’s creation from start to finish changed everything for Ferrari. There weren’t two sides of a waveform anymore; rather a canvas with no disposition allowed him and Adam to take the music anywhere, or vice versa. What resulted was a collection of songs with a colorful array of sounds that, in Ferrari’s words, “has a little something for everyone.”
And he’s right. The palette of sounds on the album reflect those of early 2000s pop-punk, modern R&B, melodic trap and even indie bedroom pop. Adam emphasizes using music unlike your own to inspire what you create, so as Ferrari’s music taste expanded, so did his realm of inspiration.
“I was listening to a lot of My Chemical Romance and Beach Bunny when I was making the album,” he notes. “I love how that came through in places on the album.”
A Better Self
Creativity flourished with the infusion of new inspiration, a collaborative partnership with Adam and the organic growth and maturation of Carti Ferrari as an artist. Since the album developed over a course of years, a different version of Ferrari comes through on every track with a binding theme: a better self.
“There’s about 3 or 4 tracks where you can still hear the old Carti Ferrari,” he says, “but halfway through, Adam really pushed me to be a better version of myself on every song we did.”
Ferrari’s outreach for something improved and unfamiliar shines on the title track, “You’ll Burn Your Eyes Out.” In his words, “It’s further out from anything I’ve created before. It has a really chill indie-rock feel, yet it’s alternative and dark at the same time. I love it.”
You’ll Burn Your Eyes Out Available Everywhere This Friday
What’s more is Carti Ferrari’s push for something more purposeful and full didn’t stop in the studio. The album is a reflection of its artist, who, for the past four years, has been on a reflective, enduring personal journey. When asked what the phrase ‘You’ll Burn Your Eyes Out” means, he had an answer that summates the point of the album: “It’s about facing something you don’t want to face. For me, it’s coming face-to-face with what you fear most.”
That’s why Carti Ferrari can’t look back—he’ll burn his eyes out. Only he could say what he fears. Perhaps it’s what’s behind him or the chance that he’ll never be able to return to where he’s been. One listen through You’ll Burn Your Eyes Out will reveal what he can’t turn back to.
