Jon Searles, the brains behind quirky baroque-pop project Jonathan Something, is a multi-instrumentalist based out of Brooklyn, Connecticut (the older, less hip sister of Brooklyn, NY). Fresh off of the release of his first single "Outlandish Poetica," Searles is back with a new single "Fine" ahead of his forthcoming album release later this summer.
Jonathan Something’s sound is somehow both familiar and foreign at the same time. He treads somewhere between Ben Folds/Randy Newman-esque satirical piano pop and the theatrical baroque-psych-rock of artists like Diane Coffee or Foxygen. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but whatever this is, it sounds good. "Fine," like "Outlandish Poetica" is full of imaginative and bizarre, over-the-top imagery, (see: "bathed in moonlight and bathing in my own spit and drool") that adds a delightfully eccentric dimension to the song. His articulation and eloquence is a breath of fresh air in a time when unintelligible, hazy mumbles seem to have become the norm.
Searles spends the entirety of the song insisting that he’s "fine," but anyone who’s seen the critically acclaimed (73% on Rotten Tomatoes y’all!) 2003 remake of The Italian Job knows what "Fine" really stands for: freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. We’ve all been there. Well, hopefully not quite like Jonathan Something, but we all know how it feels to lie through our teeth and say we’re fine, even when we know we’re not.
Outlandish Poetica is out August 6th on Solitaire Recordings. Until then, just keep telling yourself you’re fine, even if you’re falling to pieces in the dugout of your old middle school.
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