Jordan Feinstein
“Kind of Funny,” the new bedroom pop single by L.A.-based Small Forward, is accurately named. It’s kind of a funny track. The audio landscape is cozy, a warm stream of guitars and smooth vocals, picking up only a little speed and turbulence as it builds towards the end. But this placid journey seems to bother the lead singers, who perform together as a single narrator.
“Always in the right place from the very start, there’s not a lot of things that I did to play my part” the song opens. This is a song about agency, and it feels weird to them how little they perceive having over their own life’s (albeit “right”) direction. While there’s an ambiguously troubled relationship with an even more ambiguous “you” throughout the song, this lyrical thread might remove more focus than it adds useful context. This is a song about their entire life’s experience, and the weird malaise that comes with not making enough active decisions in it. The song’s structure is nicely connected to its lyrics, taking a pretty break after “finally, finally, I’ll fall right back into place.” From there it builds into a slightly more dramatic ending, taking trips slightly outside of their comfort zone. But they don’t seem too concerned, and the song doesn’t sound it either. They’ll end up right where they’re supposed to be yet again. They even seem to rely on it.