Michaels has always had a knack for catchy, sharp, and poignant hooks, but she’s opted for a relatively subdued composition here and has succeeded to terrific effect.

The entire melody is a touching shuffle through bittersweet memories and sobering realizations —about what it means to fall head over heels in love with someone only to have the ground fall out from underneath your feet in one stroke. The acoustic guitar that sets the tone for the entire tune just fluctuates between three different chords; it’s a slow but ultimately deliberate choice to accentuate Julia’s solo vocals that come in carrying a heft of gravitas and vulnerabilities. Julia’s voice has a rare ability in coming across as both messy and somber, as though she’s just woken up from bed but has also experienced a myriad of extreme emotions leading up to the moment. 

Yet, she never bothers with shocking with her high or low notes. Instead, her songwriting functions as a form of a monologue, where she listlessly rattles off the multitude of reasons why “love is weird.” Only in the pre-chorus does she take it up a couple of pitches and hits the soaring notes with ease, but even this interlude is brief. The chorus is as subtle as possible, relying not on Michael’s vocal prowess but a low-key mix of synth bass and percussion. Their interplay is soft, but it establishes the introspective mood of the track in a striking fashion. The production is similarly minimal, but Michaels does well to overlap her vocals in the second verse to heighten the passion flowing through the lyrics. 

The lyrics are largely cryptic and tease the singer’s innermost thoughts. We’re meant to feel their weight, but we can’t quite crack the exact narrative being laid out through the song. Julia Michaels’ style has always revolved around confessional melodies that dip and lift with the whims of the artist. She once again proves why she’s one of the most sought-after songwriters in the scene — she can transform from infectious to heartbreaking in the flash of an eye and still leave you reeling. Her album Not In Chronological Order comes out on April 30, 2021, with ‘Love is Weird’ marking the third single. 

Author: Shaoni Das

Shaoni Das is a writer/editor currently based in Edmonton, Canada. She remains eager to inspect how the changing culture of music impacts upon the greater world.