Rating: 6/10
Gustav Åhr, also known under his stage name, Lil Peep, took his life in April 2017 in an overdose of Fentanyl and Xanax, just as his musical career took off. Come over when you’re sober part 2 is Lil Peep’s sophomore album, as well as his final album. The album, the songs, and their lyrics are drenched in Lil Peep’s struggles, sickness, addiction, and worsening condition. Throughout his short musical career, as the public got to know him better through interviews and his music, it became obvious that Åhr lived life on the edge, often on the precipice of death. In interviews and songs, it wasn’t hard to tell that he didn’t mind dancing with the devil, and that he was quite comfortable with the idea of life not lasting past his youth.
Lil Peep often also spoke and sang of his mental illness and depression, but unlike many artists, he did not flaunt his weakness and vulnerability, he just spoke of his condition simply. He used his struggles to create deep, beautiful, meaningful music. The cornerstone of his music was his depression and struggles in life. Åhr’s latest release, almost two years after his death by overdose, serves as a tribute to his style and lyricism. This album will forever be considered by fans as a goodbye from Lil Peep himself, as the album is peppered with subtle messages that have underlying hints which show just how deep his illness ran.
Key tracks on the album which showcase Åhr’s depression and struggles with substance abuse and the comfort he found in his proximity to death are Sex with my ex, Runaway, Leanin’, and Life is beautiful. Lil Peep’s struggles with addiction and his comfort in death are heavily expressed in Leanin’, where he says in the chorus “Woke up surprised. Am I really alive? I was trying to die last night, survived suicide last night.” . While these lyrics are very characteristic of Lil Peep’s music and lyrical style, they have a certain weight to them after his death. The artist’s album, unfinished and uncut at the time of his death, will forever be a snapshot of Lil Peep and his life, frozen in time.
The most notable song on the album is Falling Down, featuring artist XXXTENTACION, who died in June 2018 following an attack in Deerfield Beach, Florida. XXXTENTACION, also known as Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, had a very similar approach to music, and suffered from the same mental illness and substance abuse issues which affect so many young artists of this generation, artists such as Lil Peep. Falling Down, a bonus track featuring both artists, is now an extremely powerful and legendary piece of music, as it pays tribute to both musicians no longer in this world.
Now streaming on: Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon Music
