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Photo: Jimmy Fontaine

Los Angeles-based singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sueco is an artist that continues to surpass people’s preconceived notions of him and what it means to be a genre-bending artist. His long-awaited debut album, It Was Fun While It Lasted, is a profoundly authentic body of work that brings something both nostalgic and modern to the alt music scene. The twelve-track record is a dynamic, incredibly produced piece of pop-punk art with many layers that examine self-destruction, relationships, anxiety, and more.

The album’s opener, “Today,” starts on an instrumentally low-key but highly emotional note. Sueco expresses an inability to find solace in sobriety and how his inescapable problems continue to pile up before building to a climactic final chorus, the first of many on this record. This crushing vulnerability is especially present on lines like, “If I don’t hit you back by tomorrow / I’ll have made my great escape / This pill is so hard to swallow / But it makes me feel great.”

The record seamlessly transitions into Sueco’s most popular single from this album cycle, “Paralyzed.” On the song, Sueco sings about a toxic relationship with a significant other and how he doesn’t want it to end even though it makes him miserable. This single marked a change in Sueco’s career, which had been catapulted into the spotlight with his viral 2019 track "fast." Proving to his label and critics that he’s much more than a “mumble rapper," Sueco boasts a unique sense of musicality and artistic range. It oozes with modern emo sensibilities while simultaneously blending Sueco’s brand of trap beats in fantastic, genre-bending fashion, making it the perfect genre-breaking song.

The following two tracks, "It's Going Good” and “Hate You Too,” further display Sueco's range as a writer, covering two vastly different aspects of relationships. The former is a high-energy examination of the anxiety you feel when things are going too well in a relationship and you’re afraid of being emotionally honest. The latter is an acoustic, uninhibited track about betrayal filled with soaring vocals and unrestrained emotion.

“Loser” is an anthemic pop-punk track that speaks to the misfits and outcasts of the world. Fueled with catchy guitar riffs that slowly build alongside Sueco’s bold vocals, we listen to him examine his life and how others perceive him. Sueco believes he's worthless, “addicted to the pain,” and nothing more than a loser. “I wasn’t the coolest kid growing up,” Sueco shares. “..Nobody else got me, but that song got me. There was all of this fucked up shit going on in my head too, so this was the feeling I wanted to portray.”

The remainder of the album is a rollercoaster ride of emotions and sonic expression. “Drunk Dial,” “SOS,” which features everyone’s favorite pop-punk drummer Travis Barker, and “PRIMADONA,” showcases Sueco’s ability to fuse alt-pop energy into his already highly inventive sonic approach. Meanwhile, songs like “Toxic Therapy” “Sober/Hungover,” featuring Arizona Zervas, and “Motel 666” bring out the more aggressive colors in his voice and lyrical style.

This all comes to a head on the titular closer, “It Was Fun While It Lasted.” The explicit intro ushers listeners into an equally explicit song about the artist’s inebriated escapades. Catchy guitar riffs and beats build as Sueco recalls all the nights he spent “getting blasted, waking up in my casket” and how “it was fun while it lasted.” That sentiment rings especially true when the album ends leaving listeners thinking precisely that.

It Was Fun While It Lasted is the kind of album that makes you want to sing, cry, and scream at the top of your lungs and further continues this exciting new era for Sueco. The RIAA-certified singer and producer will be joining Oliver Tree on his North American ‘Cowboy Tears’ tour this spring alongside 347aidan.

Listen to It Was Fun While It Lasted below: