Chris Farren
Born Hot
Polyvinyl Record Co. (2019)
Rating: 69 million rays of Central Florida sun
Three years after Chris Farren’s last solo full-length, Can’t Die, comes the powerpop superstar and Hottest Man in the World’s newest record, Born Hot. Thankfully, Chris has been anything but silent since Can’t Die, having released a smattering of singles and splits, along with Love in the Time of E-Mail, the latest record from his band with Jeff Rosenstock, Antarctigo Vespucci (check out my review of that record here!). In non-musical exploits, he’s started a podcast, Astroblast, co-hosted by Tancred’s Jess Abbott and produced by Jenny Owen Youngs, (who also executive produced Born Hot, since, in Jenny’s own words, “behind every hot man is an even hotter lesbian”). To top it all off, Chris has also blessed us with saucy pics and hilarious tweets.
Chris prefaced the release of Born Hot with three singles: “Search 4 Me,” “Love Theme from Born Hot,” and “Surrender”—which, like the rest of the album, have titles that are very On BrandTM for Chris. Despite the irreverent vibe of many of the titles, as well as the fact that the album is powerpop, Born Hot’s themes are largely serious and even existential.
Take the first single, “Search 4 Me,” which centers on Chris’s anxieties, particularly a fear of regret and battle to, as therapists love to say, “be present.” Another single, “Love Theme from Born Hot” is addressed to, as Chris has referred to her before, his hot tatted-up wife, Cassie. While other relationships fall apart around them, Chris pleads with Cassie, “Let’s stay in love / Baby let’s stay in love” (*insert big eyes emoji here*).
Looking at the rest of the record: From the very beginning of Born Hot, Chris refuses to pull any punches. The first track, “Bizzy,” features lines that are heart-wrenchingly full of self-loathing: “And I hope you never see me like the way I see myself / And I shattered every mirror in my house but it still hurts like hell.”
That’s not to say that all hope is lost, though. “Too Dark,” a song reminiscent of Chris’s split Ducks Fly Together with Grey Gordon, is a thank-you letter to those who “open up the windows.” “I Was Amazing” is a realistic yet triumphant note-to-self; Chris proclaims, “I will wake up fine through another night / It gets so loud sometimes / But I will stay alive.”
A review of Born Hot would be incomplete without a mention of the album’s cover, which features a spicy, shirtless self-portrait of Chris. The cover, just like the track titles, seems to be in direct contradiction with Born Hot’s lyrical content. This juxtaposition speaks to the larger supposed paradox of Chris’s overall persona. As mentioned earlier, he’s the Hottest Man in the World, with the photos and social media presence to prove it. However, he’s also incredibly down-to-earth and thoughtful, as well as candid about mental health; on a single episode of Astroblast he can joke about horniness and being unaware that gay people exist, then talk about his experiences with therapy and anti-depressants. Born Hot is an amalgamation of Chris’s varying moods and thoughts, showing that people can and indeed are multi-faceted. The album is also, if I may be so bold, a mirror for many of us to hold up and see ourselves in. In spite of everything, Chris will be alright, and so will we.
In a society that often stigmatizes, sensationalizes, or glamorizes (if not all three at once) mental health issues and existential crises, Born Hot is a breath of fresh air—or however many breaths one can take in 30 minutes, since that’s about how long the record is.
-Julien Boulton
The record release show for Born Hot is on October 12th at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, and FREE BABEY!! Details, along with Chris’s early 2020 headlining tour with Macseal and Retirement Party, can be found here (and merch too!).
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