Imagine, if you will, a psychological horror TV show where someone who now lives in a world where, in a highly surveillance universe, you are also forced to watch yourself, and that tends to dictate not only your every move, but also your human insecurities. It would make a lot of sense that Hana la Rene’s “For Now” – a city pop song this sparkly, airy, and funky – be the theme song. She even lays out the story for you on the first line: “The Panopticon of society is surreal, but the masses online tell you it’s just not a big deal.” This is how consent gets stolen and applied: The act of believing that what can soon turn problematic, in hindsight, is not all that bad. Yet.
The song feels like a late-night survey of a city that isn’t as brightly lit, but isn’t as dangerous. You are in your apartment, cooking up ramen, and your smart microwave cooks based on that last thing you mentioned that is related. It hears you, it sees you, it claims to know you. It’s odd. As if you don’t have your own anxieties to check. No big deal. Right? That is, until the song unfolds. At first, it feels sweet, but after the glitching bridge, it starts to really hit you hard: “We have become our own Big Brothers now.” The danger never seems to crash land its way in until it is way too late to take cover.
Welcome to the future, stardust. At least you got a pop song out of it, right?
Take a listen to “For Now” below:
Written by mynameisblueskye
