Released in full on January 16, Vienna Vienna’s album “Entertain Me” has been heavily anticipated by the singer-songwriter’s fans for months.
James Barre, known also as just J, is the man behind Vienna Vienna, first rising into the public eye with his single “Blame It On Us” in 2021. Since then, the musician has kept up his theme of societal commentary in his music.
The album begins with “Idle Hands,” which had been pre-released on November 7 the previous year. The song came with a campy music video, a visual of a modern family at Thanksgiving. On the television, a newsbroadcaster satirically warns that, ‘Woke is back! They’re coming for your family,’ showcasing the fallout of families and ideals across the country.
Following is “Coolest Thing Alive,” possibly a recounting of Barre’s own origin story. In late 2024, Barre was ‘adopted’ by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, taking the artist under his wing so to speak. With lyrics like, ‘Show yourself around, kid, go swimming in a cigarette fountain,” and, “While you were dead set on dying, you were the coolest thing alive, you can’t untwist the knife, are you having a good time,’ the song represents what it’s like to enter the industry with success basically ensured. The official visualizer on the Vienna Vienna youtube channel takes on a heavy retro vibe, with glitchy VHS overlays and bright, cosmic backgrounds.
Third on the album is “Molly,” arguably the quickest to stardom, gaining the same amount of retention in less than a week as “Idle Hands” did in two months. The term molly is a common street name for the drug ecstasy, a historical favorite among Hollywood stars. The lyrics, ‘You can keep me chained up, the key’s around your neck love, to ring as my reminder,’ are clear pointers to the song’s theme of substance abuse and how it can shackle someone down from their dreams.
Next is “Company Hunting,” another pre-released song. This song is about “religion and fear and shame and sex and death and hope and love and god and sex (all the usual suspects),” as stated by Barre in the comments of the song’s lyric video. A bit harder to pin down to single theme, the song tackles aspects of religious trauma and sexual shame, a slight contrast to the earlier vibes of the album.
Fifth on the album is “Buzz,” the most recently pre-released song in late December. The song starts out strong with lyrics, ‘how much is eight dollars now, they’re killing people for eight dollars now, put your back into it,’ a commentary on not only the economic state of the country, but the political as well. It is followed by the words, ‘bootstraps, bootstraps, bootstraps, bootstraps, string yourself up, higher, higher,’ a reference to the proverb on ‘pulling yourself up by the bootstraps’ in reference to taking control of your life and fortune. This is my personal favorite on the album, having been heavy in my rotation since the day it was released.
Closing out the album is “Monarch.” With the combination of emotionally spoken lyrics, and the sort of choppy guitar instrumental, this song might just be the perfect ending to this phenomenal album.
There truly are no words to describe the emotions this EP brings out, and the overarching theme of ‘otherness’ and feeling disconnected from who you’re supposed to be closest to. I seriously can’t recommend this album and artist enough, and I believe everyone should give Vienna Vienna a listen.
