By Charlie Maybee
This reading of Alchemical Records content provides a multimedia experience for our audience while increasing the accessibility of our content to persons with hearing loss, low vision, dyslexia, physical or motor disabilities, or are on the autism spectrum.
LA-based electro pop musician, Lisa Heller, released a brand-new single on January 26 titled “cheetos n coke,” which sidesteps any immediately implied whimsy with a contemplative commentary on issues of body image and self-worth.
It’s the first line of the song that subverts any assumptions about the title by lengthening it just a bit to become, “Just finished my cheetos and coke, and I’m feeling gross.” As Heller laments about the mental pressure and conditioning of diet culture, she hits some of the specific behavioral traits that have become especially commonplace for teens like calorie counting.
“I don’t like my body / I wish I could be somebody else,” she sings through the chorus with a blunt nonchalance. In this song, there is no fluffy language in the lyrics, as Heller gets right to the point with each line. This contrasts nicely against the chill piano-driven instrumental track and allows the messaging to be at the forefront of the song’s effect.
With a visual accompaniment also being released on YouTube, we see Heller sitting with her cheek resting on her knees as the phrase “cheetos n coke” floats around her in different layers, colors, and fonts. While this may not be an outright music video, it does capture the kind of repetitious tunnel vision that happens when one becomes hyper-fixated on something they have done that they regret.
In this case, a seemingly small snack “cheetos n coke” become an ethereal torment exasperated by the singer-songwriter’s depression and anxiety that seems to become connected in part with her self-image; something she often talks about publicly. Against the music, it’s a thoughtful visualization of how cloudy and overwhelming this can make a person’s mental state.
“cheetos n coke” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, with the visual accompaniment available on YouTube. Follow our Alchemical Weekly YouTube Playlist for more great music featured on the site.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
