“Under the Weather” is a scream in the face of pretense and the acceptance of things being so terrible that they start to feel normal. The weight of the words is something many can relate to, with the tension in the heavy beat a stripped-down canvas that thickens and bristles with glitchy production throughout expanding like the stockpile of stress and overstimulation Gen Z experiences daily. The emotional charge in the music reflects this collapse, as Cheska’s layered vocals and screaming synths act like the sound of punching a pillow or snapping a pencil in a dark room at midnight. Artist Earth to Cheska, real name Chelsea Reed, is known for using her music as a direct outlet for both her anxieties and her resistance to society’s so called “new normal”. “Under the Weather” is her bold refusal to stay quiet, cool, or calm when the world is, quite literally, on fire.
From the very first verse, blunt metaphors give weight to the song’s message. Lines like “The world is a flaming pile of shit /They’re selling atom bombs to kids” are not there to shock for the sake of it they are a raw, cathartic release of the helplessness so many feel in the face of political chaos and ecological collapse. Similarly, “All my friends are getting high on loneliness and lullabies” captures the anxious numbness that has become second nature to a generation raised in an age of pandemics, climate fear, and constant doomscrolling. As the clock strikes 2 a.m. and you’re knee deep in another night of scrolling through bad news, “Under the Weather” becomes that internal scream the voice in the mirror that laughs through the panic because there’s no other way to cope. The glitchy sound design, the haunting layering of Cheska’s voice, and the unhinged final scream aren’t just artistic tools they’re emotional outbursts captured in sound.
Songs like this are for the ones who are scared but can’t stop caring. They’re for those who are done pretending everything is fine. And they also carry a message to the critics to those who try to silence voices like Cheska’s that this is how it feels when you’re pushed to your emotional edge. Featured in Spotify’s SALT playlist a space for new sounds that deserve discovery Earth to Cheska’s rage, honesty, and vulnerability are finally being heard. This song isn’t just a cry for help. It’s a cry of defiance.
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English