The growth from Lucid Dreams to Burnout is incredible

I became a fan around the launch of Serotonin Dreams, and as a 30-something musician who likes writing sad songs on the ukulele, I found his meshing of the instrument with synths really inspiring. There was a simple charm to songs like She Said No and King of Nothing, even if lyrically his work could be a bit clunky.

Burnout, however, just upped the production to an entirely new level. Looking at songs like Backseat, it's crazy how well the song flows. He paints this picture using vivid, concrete details, and the music compliments the lyrics perfectly. The soundscape is varied and cohesive across the tracks, and I can't help but think if he'd forced himself to stick to the ukulele, the tracks wouldn't have worked as well. Despite the shift, the album still feels distinctly like boywithuke. Looking forward, I don't think Chandol is going to feel all that different, because the core songwriting is distinctly Charley. I'm really looking forward to whatever he ends up releasing under the new name.

Ultimately, as a songwriter myself, it's exciting to watch him be uncompromising in his vision for his music. I wish more artists would experiment outside of their niches and follow wherever their muse leads them. And for anyone feeling bitter toward him hanging up the ukulele, I'll leave you with this:

"We'll be okay
Don't overthink, we've got all day
I promise we can handle change."