Language Warning: parts of this article contains PG-13 language along with artists that create music with explicit lyrics. Each artist with explicit lyrics will be signified with an in-text reference (1).
Introduction
Everyone has their preference when it comes to music. Some might prefer some laid-back country, others prefer a heavier flavor of music like punk or rock. The only constant between us as humans is our taste of music is ever changing.
For me growing up, my taste of music varied from whatever was on the radio at the pool, to Christian Contemporary music in mom’s car, to Christian hip-hop/rock. Over the past 4-5 years, I’ve been expanding my palette to more “weird” types of music. While that term is very subjective, it’s something that I think that most people who just listen to more mainstream artists would agree with my definition of weird.
When most people think weird, they think it in a negative connotation, but I’m here today to help people who might be interested in expanding their palette into “weird” music like I have! To help with the move from “normal” music to “weird” music, I’ve created this guide both to help people get into different types of music, but also as an excuse to share some artists I really enjoy listening to.
Editor’s Note: This article was started back in December 2024, but due to the business of school and my social life, I’m just now finishing this article. Hope you enjoy!
Level 1: The Warmup
Tom Cardy (The Dancefloor at the End of the Universe Album)1
Originally just a guy posting funny TikToks and YouTube Shorts using his musical talent, Tom Cardy is one of those artists that leaned into both comedy and music production to unironically create a banger of an album. Cardy’s comedic lyrics lean into a mix of zoomer humor and self-depricating humor, which I find quite enjoyable, but others might not appreciate to the same extent.
While the production itself might not sound too out-of-the-ordinary, the lyrics are certainly untraditional, which is why I put him in the first level in this journey into “weird” music. As an example, one of my favorite songs by Cardy is called “H.S.” and I enjoy it for its catchy production and positive vibes, while still keeping the theme of silly, illogical lyrics that make for a good time in the car. The general theme of the song is the idea that Pluto could have its feeling hurt over getting its planet tag revoked in favor of being considered a dwarf planet, but instead of worrying about what the people on earth think, Pluto decides that it still has self-worth that outweighs what others think about it. The theme gets thrown back to the listener to say that we should be more like Pluto and not let the opinions of others ruin our vibe, as we’re still “hot shit” even when we get judged by others.
Many of the other artists won’t be the same type of weird, as I’ll be focusing more on the production-side of the music, but I felt it was worthwhile to give some credit to Cardy for his masterful work on his latest album.
Jon Bellion1
Jon Bellion is probably going to be the most well-known artist I put on here as his single “All Time Low” was one of the most popular songs back in 2016-2017 with around 750 million plays on Spotify alone. The thing I really like about Jon Bellion is that he has a digestible, yet unique production style that has served him well over the years, producing for artists like Tori Kelly, the Jonas Brothers, and Justin Bieber.
What makes Bellion’s style so unique can be seen in his less-popular songs like Guillotine, Adult Swim, and Luxury. Each one of those songs feels like it belongs in its own category, which I feel can be applied to each album that those songs are attached to. Even beyond the three most-recent albums Bellion has released, all of Bellion’s albums has its own personality attached to it, showing both the diversity of Bellion’s styles and growth over the years.
While Bellion’s style has grown over the years, if you listen to him as much as I have, you can even pick out his sound when he produces or writes music for other artists, as his style is so unlike a lot of the mainstream styles we hear today from many of the mainstream artists filling up the shopping malls, grocery stores, or outdoor pools we go to. On top of just great music and lyrics, Jon Bellion is a great entrance into more unique and “weird” music.
Lawrence1
If you know anything about this band, you know why I put them on the same level as Jon Bellion. In 2020, Lawrence signed with Job Bellion’s record label, Beautiful Mind, but even pre-2020, Lawrence has some unique and interesting sounds that you won’t find among many other artists today.
One unique aspect about Lawrence off-the-bat is that they’re a brother-sister duo that started the band back in the mid-2010s. They released their first album, Breakfast, back in 2017, before releasing their second album in 2018, titled Living Room. In both of these albums alone, you’ll find some unique blend of jazz and soul, with some pop or funk thrown in here and there. Some of my personal favorites from their first two albums include songs like Alibi, Misty Morning, and The Heartburn Song.
Lawrence’s third album, Hotel TV, would be the first produced with Jon Bellion under his record label. This marks the turning point for Lawrence from a more mild production style, to the more chaotic and busy style of soul pop that they live by today. While the change does give them a more “mainstream” sound, they still stick with their niche soul-pop sound that helps them stay grounded in their root identity. Some songs I really like from this new era of Lawrence include Thoughts From the ER (Silver Lining), Promotion, The Weather, and Hip Replacement.
Level 2: The Practice
Hippo Campus1
This is where I’ve been stumped for the past 5 months trying to describe this band. Their sound is what I think is the definition of Indie, with often very obscure lyrics, an odd culmination of instruments and digital sounds. Hippo Campus is one of those bands that you just have to go listen for yourself and decide how you think they sound.
half•alive
One of my all-time favorite bands. I first listened to them back in 2020, and I haven’t found a band that has the same level of creativity in their lyrics.
Their debut EP, 3, consists of three songs that came out of a 50 song challenge that the band’s lead singer, Josh Taylor, set for himself to achieve. After writing those 50 songs, he picked what he thought were the three best songs, and turned them into the band’s first EP. The overall tone of the EP feel very inspired my Muse and their iconic sound with distorted guitars with a driving drum beat behind it. The lyrics, meanwhile, creatively describe the human condition, with themes surrounding the fear of opening yourself up to people, inner conflicts with one’s mind and heart, and the struggles of faith in a higher being.
The band’s first full-length album, Now, Not Yet, continues along similar themes from 3, but with more of the hopeful side of the human condition. To me, the whole feels like a good reminder to take care of your mental health and how important it is to find hope within hopeless situations. On a more personal note, I attribute the reason I got into advocating for and practicing good mental health. This album came into my life in a period where I was not doing well mentally with many parts of my social life breaking down before my very eyes all while feeling powerless to stop it. Specifically, the last two songs on the album were what made me realize that I was not alone in my struggles and that I was loved, no matter how broken or useless I felt in that moment.
The following album, Conditions of a Punk (originally slated to be called Give Me Your Shoulders) turned from an inward way of thinking, to an outward way of feeling, with many of the themes surrounding new and old relationships. Songs ranged from Summerland to Lost, where relationships ranged from the best of times, to the worst of times. Not to say that the entire album hinged on that theme, since Nobody focused more on the struggles of attention, and whether or not attention was a good or bad thing with no clear resolution or answer to the doubts surrounding the song.
Finally, the most recent album, Persona, circles back to various aspects of the human condition, but with more advocacy for changing the norms rather than trying to navigate through the norms set by society. Songs like Automatic and People heavily emphasize the deep divide found in online culture and the need to realize the pains we’ve caused to each other before its too late. While I do appreciate the stylistic change from their usual lyrical style, I also really appreciated the more calming songs to balance out the heavier songs. Songs like Long Drive, Songs and Thank You really help the listener catch their breath and appreciate that there are plenty of things to be appreciative about as well.
Level 3: The Performance
Kings Kaleidoscope
Now this is the point at which many people would stop likely due to the lack of familiar rhythms and instrumental combinations.
First up is Kings Kaleidoscope. They’re traditionally described as a Christian artist (which is not inaccurate), but that label doesn’t tell the whole story. While many of their most popular songs are variations of traditional hymns, many of their original music can be thought of as “out of left field.”
The first album I listened to from Kings Kaleidoscope was Zeal, as a former friend of mine recommended me the song “Backwards” off that album. Ever since listening to that song, I felt like I needed to see what else they did and if it was more of the same or different from Backwards. to my surprise, most of the other songs off Zeal felt like a new flavor, even the trilogy of songs that seamlessly crossfade from one to another. The lyrics themselves don’t shy away from their Christian roots, but I appreciate that it’s not your typical modern Christian Contemporary music (CCM) style of lyrics, with bland, generic, one-size-fits-all approach to lyrics. Instead, each song feels like it was derived from a personal experience, yet divorced from many of the habits of broad, non-specific lyrics that you often find in CCM. While many hardcore Christians might not appreciate their approach, I think it means more to the listener if the writers come from a genuine place in their life rather than trying to reach the most people with a broad approach.
Following Zeal, they released two studio albums. The first one being Baptized Imagination, where the main theme of the album focuses on a soul-searching journey, longing for something that has yet to be. Their second album, self-titled, feels like almost like a response or somewhat of a resolution to Baptized Imagination, where the lyrics feel a bit lighter and happier. I almost feel like the self-titled album is a sign of accepting the things that are unknown and finding joy in the midst of doubt, while praising the few assurances given from above. I would talk more about the musical style, but the only consistent to me is the inconsistency of their sound from song to song, much like Hippo Campus. One song you’ll get pure chaos, another will be a head bopper, and another will be a calm acoustic song. You’ll just have to listen for yourself to pickup the vibes.
Jacob Collier
Finally, but certainly not least, we arrive at one of my favorite artists currently, Jacob Coller. The best description that someone else came up with for Jacob Collier is “your favorite musician’s favorite musician” due to his very unusual style of music that gets appreciated most by other musicians and artists. While it certainly sounds like a great title to have, many people online critique his music for being too complex or unnecessarily overloaded with different tracks within individual songs. For me, I actually appreciate the complexity of his sound and the way he manipulates notes to play with the listener’s emotions, even as a non-musician myself.
The first album released by Jacob is titled “In My Room,” which is exactly where the album was recorded and produced. This album’s style feels very stripped down compared to most of the music he would go on to release with his Djesse series of albums. Songs like “You and I” and “In My Room” have a very relaxed vibe, while most of the album highlights Jacob’s more sparkly style of music, with songs like “Hideaway” and “Savior” playing with many sounds that come, swirl around, and go, making for a very stimulating experience to the ears and mind.
Rather than going through each individual album of his Djesse series (Volumes 1-4), I figured I’d just highlight the overarching themes of each album, along with a favorite song of mine from each album.
Djesse Vol. 1 opens the series with a more orchestral focus with the Metropole Orkest featuring in every song. While I do really like many of the songs where the orchestra is the primary focus, my favorite song, “With the Love in my Heart,” contains a lot more chaos with other non-orchestral instruments filling most of the gaps within the song.
Djesse Vol. 2 gives more of a folky, countryside (not to be mistaken with country music) vibe. My favorite song, “Moon River,” is an a cappella cover full of twists and turns that play with the ear and emotions. Moon River would be Jacob’s first a cappella song since his debut album, but definitely is in a league of its own and won’t be his last a cappella cover.
Djesse Vol. 3 would go into a much different direction than any other album before it from Jacob Coller. The overarching theme of the album is pop and pure chaos. The album features artists ranging from Tori Kelly to Kemba to T-Pain, and centers around the pop-EDM spheres. My personal favorite song from this album has to be “Sleeping on My Dreams” for its fun, ear-tickling sounds. (See a theme yet with my favorite songs?)
Finally, the latest and last installment of the Djesse series, Djesse Vol. 4. This album contains a mix of the themes from the three prior albums. Overall, this album is treated as a celebration of sorts, both for a completed series, but also for the diversity of the world, as the album contains multiple languages from just about every continent on earth. My favorite song from this album has to be “A Rock Somewhere” for the amazing sitar playing from Anoushka Shankar and the killer vocals from Varijashree Venugopal.
Conclusion
No matter where you are in your music listening journey, there’s always an opportunity to find new and exciting artists/genres to listen to! I hope you found this post insightful and makes you excited to find other music that many people might consider weird. If anything, this was a fun excuse to share with you just a snapshot of my musical taste, for which I appreciate you reading about if you made it this far!
I plan on posting at least one more article in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more to come from me! In the meantime, make sure to take care of yourselves!