It’s not often I’m listening to a song and manage to be astounded by the sheer level of slightly nerdy references it makes. It takes a very specific person to make a track that manages to reference Digimon, Smite, and Ferris Bueller, all while maintaining a level of cool to stick the landing. EDDIE SATURN is an enigma in this sense, because somehow he manages to continue sounding sick as hell while bragging about this kill to assist ratio, but boiling ‘Dork.’ down to just that would be a huge undersell.
Eddie is another example of my Instagram algorithm doing what I’ve asked of it, that being finding more sick, small, post-hyperpop adjacent artists to gush about to my friends (who frankly are sick of hearing about it). ‘Dork.’ was a surprise algorithm pull that I was immediately infatuated with because of the way it blends so many different ideas in complete fluidity. From its metallic, industrial drum intro to its drum and bass drop, from its sparkly string bridge to its final distorted beat, this is a song that constantly has a new idea to show you, all the while accompanying it all with some of the most interesting writing I’ve found all year. In its opening moment we’re met with nothing but the aforementioned metallic drums and a refrain from Eddie that paints a larger-than-life self-portrait of a smart, slightly nerdy, big thinker who seemingly cannot be contained by much (least of which being the notorious brain shrinking Advil. Or something. I don’t know I failed chemistry). After 3 rounds of this refrain to really build a firm basis of who we’re dealing with, we’re given a very short build that abruptly cuts to a total vibe change with a drum and bass drop that feels right out of a chase sequence (which I assume is the Advil people trying to chase Eddie down and learn why it’s not working). It’s a fast and abrasive new vibe powered by simple but quick drums, and a chorus-drenched bass line that is constantly morphing through the entire sequence.
This drop is already a very different vibe than the intro, which makes the next shift in sound even more jarring. This song, up until this point, has had an incredibly compelling, raw, abrasive feel to it all, so the very last thing I was expecting next was maybe the most gorgeous bridge this song could possibly have. I’m a huge sucker for a bit of cinamatics in music. Things that really paint a scene in sound absolutely get me excited, and the combination of the Cello bass line, the sparkling background effects, and the soaring vocal performance of DIWA evokes gorgeous imagery for me. It’s such a grand feeling moment, with the vocals almost feeling guardian angel-esc to our protagonist trying to warn him of his own flaws, but it falls of deaf ears with an abrupt cutoff. Another vibe change, a return to form to the metallic drums of the intro, now with a fully distinct verse packed with Donald Glover levels of consistent wordplay. This moment leads us to our final major change, a linear evolution from our barebones drum section to a deeply distorted, intense trap beat, and the moment where a very distorted Eddie talks about his 29 kill/0 assist game of smite (which granted in context feels more like an indirect statement on self sufficiency, but it’s far more fun to write about it we ignore that). It’s loud, it’s abrasive, it’s mean sounding, and it’s the perfect unhinged conclusion to this track’s eclectic storyline of sounds.
I’ll admit, when writing articles I hate doing full play-by-plays of a song like this, but ‘Dork.’ simply covers so many things in a sub 3 minute run time that it’s incredibly difficult to just talk about one or two parts, because every single part of this piece brings something new and exciting to the overall composition. From its high tier writing to its wildly varied production this song is packing more character than almost anything else I can name, and it does so with an astounding level of coherence. EDDIE SATURN is nothing short of something special in the space, and his unique blend of hyperpop ideas and rap prowess is something I’m shocked we haven’t seen more of. There’s a lot of really mumbly, poorly mixed stuff in the space, and Eddie is almost like the antithesis of that showing everyone else how it’s done, and truth be told, I am eagerly awaiting more from him to keep filling out that niche.
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