B-Side Guys

Maternal voicemails become emotional anchors when CLENNON explores the devastating complexity of loving someone while drowning in their rejection of your authentic self. “Drowning” transforms romantic metaphor into survival documentation, capturing how queer individuals from hostile environments often mistake toxic relationships for acceptance because any attention feels better than complete isolation. The Kingston-born, Toronto-based artist has created something that functions as both personal confession and cultural critique.

The track’s opening voicemails establish crucial context that prevents the song from becoming generic heartbreak anthem. His mother’s concerned messages—asking about therapy, expressing worry about communication gaps—provide familial counterpoint to romantic toxicity, suggesting support system that exists despite geographical and cultural displacement. This framing transforms the subsequent drowning metaphors into something more complex than simple relationship dysfunction.

CLENNON’s fusion of Harry Styles pop sensibility with Vybz Kartel dancehall influences creates musical framework that mirrors his own cultural navigation between Caribbean heritage and queer identity. The alt-pop elements provide accessibility while dancehall rhythms maintain connection to homeland that simultaneously rejects and shapes him. This genre-blending approach reflects the impossible cultural positioning many queer Caribbean artists face.

His self-directed video work demonstrates understanding that visual storytelling requires equal artistic attention as musical composition. By creating his own visual narrative, CLENNON maintains creative control over how his story gets told—crucial consideration for artist addressing topics that mainstream media often misrepresents or exploits.

The therapist’s final message—advising appreciation of actual life instead of “creating new life in your head”—provides philosophical framework for understanding how survival sometimes requires accepting partial acceptance rather than demanding full recognition. This mature perspective distinguishes the track from typical coming-out narratives that promise resolution through visibility.

“Drowning” succeeds because CLENNON refuses to separate personal romantic struggle from broader cultural context, recognizing that individual relationships exist within systems that determine whose love gets celebrated and whose gets pathologized. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is document your own survival.