B-Side Guys

Tinsley’s “Distract Me” slices through dream pop’s typical ethereal haze with a blade of brutal self-awareness. This isn’t just another song about bad romance – it’s a deliberate dive into self-destructive behavior, wrapped in shoegaze textures and delivered with an almost uncomfortable authenticity.

The lyrics read like confessional TikTok captions transformed into poetry. “I’ll do it for the plot” becomes both punchline and profound commentary on how social media has taught us to view our own lives as content. When Tinsley declares “I wanna be dumb once / I’m only young once,” she’s acknowledging the performative nature of her choices while making them anyway.

The production walks a delicate line between dreamy and desperate. The shoegaze elements create a appropriately fuzzy backdrop for crystal-clear admissions like “I know we won’t make it / But I promise I can take it.” It’s the sonic equivalent of putting a soft-focus filter on a car crash – beautiful but ultimately destructive.

There’s something refreshingly honest about lines like “Need a boy who’s real bad” and “Blow me off, put me through hell / I don’t care, I’m your bombshell.” Tinsley isn’t trying to rationalize or romanticize her choices – she’s fully aware she’s choosing chaos and wearing that choice like a badge of honor.

The chorus’s mantric repetition of “As long as you distract me” feels less like a hook and more like a meditation on modern dating. It’s an anthem for anyone who’s ever chosen drama over healing, distraction over growth, knowing full well they’re making the wrong choice but making it anyway.

What sets “Distract Me” apart is its rejection of both victimhood and villainization. Tinsley positions herself as both protagonist and antagonist in her own story, craving chaos while maintaining enough self-awareness to document the carnage. The result is a pop song that functions as both confession and commentary.

Through its dreamy instrumentation and razor-sharp lyrics, “Distract Me” captures a very specific kind of millennial/Gen-Z dating experience – one where bad decisions are made not in spite of their consequences, but because of them. It’s the sound of someone turning their red flags into aesthetic choices and their poor judgment into content.

The track serves as a mirror for a generation that’s learned to process their trauma in real-time, turning their mistakes into material even as they’re making them. Tinsley isn’t just creating a song about self-sabotage – she’s documenting the way we’ve learned to package our pain for public consumption.