I have put my fate into the hands of the Spotify algorithm. Its seemingly infinite discography and curated playlists, combined with the lack of consistency in my general music taste, have provided me with some of my favorite artists and songs. Topping my personal ranking in recent weeks has been The Beaches, a Toronto-based girl group with 2.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. After analyzing a random array of my listening history and in its endless wisdom, Spotify played their song, “Blame Brett.” The lyrics discuss the impact of the lead vocalist and bassist Jordan Miller’s breakup with Brett Emmons, frontman of The Glorious Sons. Yes, Brett is his real name. According to Miller, “he gave me his consent and his blessing. He’s like, ‘You couldn’t find another name?’ And I’m like, ‘Blame Brett just has really good alliteration, I don’t know what to say!’.” I have to say I agree with the creative decision, as it makes the song feel more personal and affable. As Miller said, it really is amazing alliteration fitting for an indie-pop hit.Â
We as the listener take the role of a future partner of the singer, being told that she’s only in it for the sex because of her past hurt. She instructs us to not blame her for her outlook but to blame her ex, Brett. What fascinates me about the lyrics is that whoever she is telling does not know Brett. We only know Miller and her thoughts, feelings, and actions but the hurt of this far-gone relationship is being used to hand-wave her moving on. And yet, there is a sense of dishonesty in these words, declaring “I’m done being the sad girl” and “I’ll become an asshole disguised as a bad girl.” She goes so far as to say “I’m never gonna love again.” Her ex is to blame, not just for her lack of caring but also for her clearly still-present hurt and sadness.
My initial reaction was that it was too soon to move on and date again for Miller and that frustration led to an externalization of her pain. There is a visceral quality in wanting to tell the world that an ex has completely screwed you over and ruined your life. And although the audience does not know Brett, we can share her frustration through her voice and song. The band, which includes her sister Kylie Miller and childhood friends, Eliza Enman-McDaniel and Leandra Earl, support her as friends and family do with a catchy hook that sticks long after the song ends with her repeatedly telling us to blame her ex, over and over again.
The ability of this song to convey the feeling of desperation in wanting to find love but distancing yourself from it out of the desire to preserve your feelings is uncannily familiar to anyone who’s experienced heartbreak. Apologizing in advance and saying that she’s going to cheat and treat them badly but saying “you could be my baby” sounds like an imagining of what the next relationship could be, or what could have been. I wonder if the only way she can justify Brett breaking her heart is to believe she is a bad person and/or lover. Or perhaps she wants to incur the pain Brett did to her onto others. T
hese initial thoughts of mine, while doing research for this article, were confirmed in an interview with Q‘s Tom Power “’I’m sorry in advance. I’m probably going to break your heart because my heart has been broken lol — don’t blame me though, blame my ex-boyfriend.’ So the song is like a nice long setup for a joke.’” The song’s self-awareness of the villainy of its protagonist is only part of what makes the song so compelling. The song, as Miller states, is misleading as it isn’t so much about her breakup with Emmons but about the aftermath of trying to date again.Â
After the pure genius of Spotify recommending this song, I have since fallen in love with Miller’s voice and the band’s musicality. If you choose to listen to “Blame Brett,” let me leave you with a few other recommendations to check out. On their self-described post-breakup sophomore album Blame My Ex, along with the leading track “Blame Brett,” “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid,” “Edge of the Earth,” and “Everything is Boring” are my go-to’s. Branching from that album across their singles and EPs there’s also “T-shirt,” “Takes One to Know One,” and “Jocelyn,” the last of which is their newest release as of Sept. 18, 2024, all of which I would also highly recommend. The Beaches have quickly skyrocketed to the top of my favorite artists for Jordan Miller’s captivating singing voice, fun lyrics, and the band’s upbeat accompaniment.