B-Side Guys

Sometimes the most profound revelations arrive through the front door, tail wagging, completely unaware of their own significance. Candy Newton’s “What It Is” operates from this understanding, building an entire emotional universe around moments so ordinary they typically pass unnoticed—the specific weight of exhaustion meeting unconditional affection, the particular comfort of being known without explanation.

The production mirrors this philosophy of finding grandeur in simplicity. Newton’s use of soft synths and ebow creates textures that feel both immediate and dreamlike, as if the song itself exists in that drowsy space between sleep and wakefulness where small gestures carry outsized emotional weight. Each element serves the song’s central meditation on presence, refusing to overwhelm the delicate ecosystem of feelings Newton has constructed.

What makes “What It Is” remarkable is how it elevates the mundane without romanticizing it. Newton doesn’t transform a dog’s greeting into something it isn’t—instead, she recognizes its inherent power to recalibrate an entire day’s emotional trajectory. The bedroom pop warmth she achieves feels earned rather than applied, emerging naturally from production choices that prioritize intimacy over impact.

The track functions as a final statement from Newton’s album Humiliation Ritual, and the juxtaposition feels intentional. After exploring the more complex territories of human embarrassment and social discomfort, “What It Is” arrives like a gentle correction, suggesting that perhaps the most radical act is simply paying attention to what’s already there. The ebow’s ethereal textures add an almost sacred quality to these observations, transforming domestic moments into something approaching prayer.

Newton has crafted something deceptively simple: a love song to the unremarkable that somehow makes everything feel worth remarking upon. In a world obsessed with dramatic gestures and grand statements, “What It Is” argues quietly but persuasively for the revolutionary potential of noticing what we already have.