In an interview, Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Shane Boose, the musician also known as Sombr, agreed that social media “should be a tool, not a lifestyle”. However, this conclusion bites the hand that feeds it: TikTok drove Sombr’s singles “Back to Friends” and “Undressed” up the charts. Consequently, the singer described the completion of his debut album, I Barely Know Her, as “[having] a tight deadline because things were moving fast commercially”.
Despite the time crunch, the record showcases Sombr’s versatile vocals, detailed songwriting, and flair for performance. “[Touring] is the closest thing to drugs,” Sombr told i-D magazine. Co-produced by Tony Berg, a collaborator of Phoebe Bridgers and Fiona Apple, I Barely Know Her appears to be the start of a long creative partnership.
Mixing pop and indie rock, the album yields chart toppers without sacrificing Sombr’s storytelling and musicianship. Addison Rae, a social media influencer-turned-singer, co-stars in the music video for “12 to 12”, a casting choice that shows Sombr’s adeptness at calibrating pop culture relevancy alongside musical integrity.
In that video, Sombr, after a night out, ends up face-down in a pool where police find him. His demise in this scene represents an awareness of fame’s drawbacks: life as a rock star comes with temptations that threaten a person’s ability to work. Elsewhere, Sombr pays homage to his influences. On “We Never Dated”, the singer glides through a swooping pop hook, his voice resembling, in its high register, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and, in its low register, Bon Iver.
“Canal Street”, the emotional centerpiece of I Barely Know Her, conveys heartbreak. “Do you hear me calling out for you on the radio?” Sombr asks the song’s subject, sounding like a wounded country crooner. The chorus jumps between octaves with a persistent melody that mirrors the burdensome feelings its singer cannot shake.
The bridge of “Dime” creates an ethereal climactic moment: “Is it a crime to care so much for another / You’re left with nothing left for yourself?” As several chords progress during the last few words, Sombr transcends the song’s melancholic state, capturing emotions so powerful they appear to contradict the gloomy lyrics that convey them. In “Crushing”, Sombr crafts a vivid scene, imagining an ex meeting someone new: “You bumped into another guy / He picks up your things and apologizes.” The song puts the listener in a trance, casting a spell with Sombr’s worst fears.
Through their solid construction, “Undressed” and “Back to Friends” exceed the marketing goals required of lead singles. Both include a cathartic moment three-quarters of the way through their runtime, where instrumental touches, such as the strings on “Back to Friends”, elevate the final chorus to a new emotional plane.
Sombr, a 20-year-old overnight sensation, honed his craft for years. A graduate of New York’s LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, Sombr uploaded the song “Caroline” to SoundCloud at 17, catching the attention of record labels. Signing to Warner Records, he persistently released music until his current viral moment.
As a title, I Barely Know Her has subtext: it appears to reference a misogynistic joke where “er” is tacked onto the end of a word, followed by someone saying, “I barely know her!” Displaying (problematic) humor summarizes his method of processing heartbreak by turning it into something for an audience to hear. I used to be a high school English teacher, and Shane Boose reminds me of former students; he combines an innate irreverence with an ability to create work that challenges the emotional intelligence of most adults.
Throughout the 2020s, millennial pop stars have begun to pass the torch to their Gen-Z counterparts. By way of his morose but comedic demeanor, Sombr bears a resemblance to Matty Healy, the lead singer of the 1975. Both acts maintain artistic credibility while never straying far from a pop hook. On the wistful “About You”, the 1975 recall a relationship with fondness, as Healy’s whispered vocal lets the catchiness of the melody stand out. He asks repeatedly, “Do you think I have forgotten about you?”
As a confessional writer, his influences continue to stretch back in time: James Taylor, pop music’s original “sad boy”, created the blueprint for an emotive male singer. “I fix broken hearts, baby, I’m your handyman,” the singer-songwriter said on 1971’s “Handyman”. To Zane Lowe, Sombr explained that the title I Barely Know Her refers to the feeling of an ex-girlfriend becoming someone he no longer knows.
Throughout the album, Sombr exposes his most vulnerable emotions to fans, representing every aspect of stardom: charisma, musicianship, and an honesty that contrasts the commercial nature of its vessel. Although done from a pedestal, the act of maintaining celebrity contains a relatable element: the desire to be known. In the 2024 song “Clara Bow”, Taylor Swift described a young starlet as, “Flesh and blood amongst war machines.” The best entertainers embody this description.
In a fan-filmed video, Sombr approaches a crowd standing by a poster promoting his album in Los Angeles. The poster shows the star next to a yardstick and reads, “Is he really 6’7″?” In this case, the “humanization” of a celebrity was literal. Fans asked him to measure his height against the poster, but in response, he backed away into a black car and sped down Sunset Boulevard —hopefully, on his way to make another album.
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