This past year was difficult for me, to say the least. In January, my three-year relationship ended and I was absolutely crushed.
Coping with and trying to heal from the breakup brought me to many different strategies: serial dating, journaling, crying, stalking his TikTok reposts, and, music.
Through my TikTok doomscrolling, I discovered an artist promoting his new song, which encapsulated exactly how I had been feeling.
This song was Weak by Sombr. With only a couple of 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, I felt like I had struck gold and streamed his entire discography. His music was exactly what my sad heart needed at the time.
Weak describes missing the closeness and connection you once had with a partner, harping on the fear that you’ll never find a partner ‘better’ than your previous relationship, and resorting to seeing people who treated you worse to fill the hole from your last relationship.
Happy stuff, I know.
This year, Sombr has grown to nearly 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify and released tons of new music.
All of them carry a somber (see what I did there?) and melodramatic tone, which suits the content of his music. All of his songs are about a failed relationship.
Some of my favorite songs include Willow, do i ever cross your mind, perfume, savior, and caroline.
Through his music, Sombr is raw, honest, and doesn’t hold back. He expresses a lot of emotional vulnerability to his fans and creates such an intimate listening experience. With every listen, I feel like I am in a therapy session where my therapist is explaining all the emotions I’ve been feeling but haven’t been able to put into words.
That is what I love most about his music; there is an unfiltered, imperfect sort of beauty that separates him from a lot of mainstream music that you hear on the radio. His music is personable, and you can tell his lyrics come from real experiences and emotions.
In July, I got to see Sombr perform in Philadelphia at The Foundry. He’s still a smaller artist, so the venue held about 50-100 fans, making it feel like such an intimate and personal experience.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry during the entire concert.
Sombr sounds just as good live, and you can tell he uses little autotune, which was really nice to see. You can tell he is new to performing live, and he and the crowd embraced any hiccups he had during the performance.
The concert was so personable, he bantered with fans throughout and got up close with the crowd, hugging many fans.
Also, his band was amazing! I especially loved his guitarists, who filled the venue with beautiful backing music.
At the end of the concert, I waited with many other fans to meet Sombr. He spent about five minutes talking to each fan and taking photos. I absolutely loved that he took the time to do this after already performing his set. I’m sure he was tired, yet it shows how much he values his fans!
When I got to speak with him, I told him how helpful his music had been to me this year and thanked him for that. He was so sweet, telling me that everything would be okay and to keep my head up. He also complimented my glasses (LOL) and thanked me for coming to the show.
I highly recommend listening to Sombr even if you aren’t going through a breakup. His music is very mellow and easy to listen to when relaxing or studying. But if you are or ever have gone through a breakup, I especially recommend listening to his music. You’ll find that his music really describes those feelings perfectly and makes you feel less alone in your thoughts and emotions.
