Best of 2023: Cherry Glazerr - I Don’t Want You Anymore
by Paige Kearney
Art by: Elliot Novak
Combating themes of fear, insecurity and the ever-looming idea of codependency, Cherry Glazerr’s vulnerability shines on their new album I Don’t Want You Anymore.
The band’s fourth studio album, released on September 29th, 2023, comes after four years of grieving and growth for frontperson and creative mind, Clementine Creevy. I Don’t Want You Anymore is a mature, more polished, evolution of their previous albums, specifically, 2019’s Stuffed & Ready, and is what Creevy describes as “a real ‘losing your fucking shit’ kind’ve vibe” in a 2023 interview with Brooklyn Vegan. Creevy opens up her heart in the band’s most vulnerable record yet, most significantly dealing with the inability to leave an unhealthy, toxic relationship and the fear and codependency that comes with that experience.
“Addicted to Your Love” is the perfect opener, where a soft, stripped-down acoustic guitar, layered with Creevy’s breathy vocals and a few plucked piano notes, come together to create this dark, haunting dive into the singer’s mind. Despite her inadequate, controlling partner, Creevy begs to know “When you leave me, will you still love me?” allowing the album to serve as all the things she couldn’t bring herself to say.
A complete 180 from the first track, “Bad Habit” starts out with a bouncy synth, transporting you to what I imagine as a dark, smoky, neon-laden eighties club, far from Creevy’s usual nineties-inspired grunge pop. The funky, danceable track (think Cannons’ “Fire For You”) is unlike any song from the band’s discography, but it still stays on theme, although with more juvenile lyrics.
Creevy touches on her avoidant attachment style in “Ready for You,” which is about “pushing people away because you’re scared of hurting them with your own bullshit” as stated in an Instagram post by the band. The stand-out lines, “Wish I could meet you with my eyes” and “I’ve got to find a way outta my brain” showcase the singer’s inability to open up to her partner and the fear, both internal and external, that she faces when trying to approach them. We also get a glimpse of the band’s previous sound, as this is the first track on the album that brings back the heavy choruses, guitar, and vocals that dominated Stuffed & Ready. Not to mention, the bassline rocks. Riding that wave of insecurity that the last track introduced comes “Touched You With My Chaos.” another reflection of Creevy’s attachment style, repeating “I said that I loved you” and following it up with “I never wanted love”, continuing the presence of their “old” sound. This one is my personal favorite, all of the dirty, distorted guitars scratch an itch in my brain, not to mention the incredibly beautiful strings that lead into the next song (I will never get over those strings).
“Soft Like a Flower” comes in hot with an even better bassline than the last. Riddled with Deftones-influenced, powerful guitar chords in the chorus, and a disturbing, distant-sounding guitar throughout the verses, the theme of (you guessed it!) codependency is back. The repeated lyric, “I like you killing me” provides us with that intense emotion that comes with losing yourself to another person, and the twisted pleasure one gains from it. Here we have a perfect example of the soft vs loud juxtaposition Creevy has mastered over the years.
Then comes a break in the fiery and fierce alternative rock, taking things down a notch with “Sugar,” another haunting track with an overwhelming influence from '90s grunge bands, between the heavy bassline and ultra-distorted guitar. The ghost-like backing vocals and maniacal laughs at the end add to the eeriness of it all. Following in the footsteps of “Sugar” comes “Golden” in which we get a beautiful blend of choir-like vocals, drums, synth and horns (yes, horns,) that shouldn’t work as well as it does. The horns on this track steal the show. I was so engrossed by them that the song’s idea of not knowing the proper, healthy way to love someone, didn’t sound as bad as it should.
“Wild Times” takes us back to that danceable, electronic-forward vibe we heard with “Bad Habit,” which is fitting, considering the song focuses on the high of loving someone so intensely, even if they couldn’t care less if you were dead or not. Creevy finds herself searching and begging to hold onto that feeling. The heavy electronic influence carries itself over to “Eat You Like a Pill.” Between a smile-inducing bass break and the trippy, warped guitar that hides in the background, this track is the most straightforward indie pop song on the album, with bright guitars and airy vocals. The last in this little electronic trilogy is “Shattered,” the most vulnerable song on the record, as it pertains to family issues, rather than a toxic relationship. The dream-like, floaty instrumental is far from the noise-pop the past tracks had us come to expect. Creevy’s softer side really shines here, as she claims she wrote it through tears, repeating “ If only I knew better”.
In the title track, “I Don’t Want You Anymore,” we find Creevy still stuck in this toxic relationship, unable to free herself from the cycle. She seems to accept this fact with “Like a love disease / There's no cure for me”. The band goes full-throttle on this track with a heavy swell of chaos, ending the record with a bang, reminding us that they’re the same bitchin’ band, they’ve just grown a little older. This closer showcases how far they can push their sound, much farther than any other song on the album. Throughout the entire record, the band gave it their all on their instruments, creating full-sounding songs every single time, they did NOT come to play. Despite a few cliche lyrics, the energy and message of the music were amplified by Creevy’s fierce vocals that demand your attention, layered to elevate their noise-pop sound to a more ethereal level. After being produced to perfection, partially by Creevy herself, I Don’t Want You Anymore is by far the band’s most impressive record to date.
This review is part of EMMIE’s Best of 2023 series. Keep an eye out on our website throughout December, as we will regularly post full album reviews of this year’s greatest hits.