God Said No by Omar Apollo

Review written by enjeans

I have to admit that I have heard one of Omar Apollo’s songs before, but I never looked into what other songs he’s done before. However, his music is exactly what I thought it was going to be, which is not a bad thing. His pop sound is great, but I have to say his sad music is my favorite. His June album, God Said No, has fourteen tracks and I enjoyed every one of them, some more than others. Although Apollo has a specific sound, the songs that stood out the most sound-wise were “Less for You” and “Against Me.”

The opening, “Be Careful with Me,” is a slow and calm start to the album that starts the themes with the narrator being someone to be cautious with. “Spite” is more upbeat but still about a bad relationship. It’s catchy, and despite the theme, it’s a song you would want to get up and dance to. “Less of You” has a more 80s feel, with a wind instrument, making the song stand out. It’s not the best song in his album, but still good. “Done with You” is another catchy song that makes you want to get up and dance, a theme in the song since the narrator sings about finally letting go of a toxic person. It’s my favorite upbeat song on the album. It’s fun and a nice song when moving on.

The start of “Plane Trees” is surprising because all the songs have been pop-smiles, not including the lyrics. But “Plane Trees” hits you with a melancholy piano and slow tone. It encapsulates the feeling of feeling lost, which is how the narrator is feeling at this part of their life. Although a good song, “Drifting” didn’t stand out to me. The sound and lyrics were good, but they didn’t bring anything new that stood out from the other songs of the album. However, the next song, “Empty,” was one of his best on the album. It has a “crying at night in bed” sound to me. The parts where he sang in Spanish were especially moving. Those parts of the song felt like he was singing it directly to the person the song is about. It hits even harder when he outright says, “Cantando en otro lenguaje pa que no me entiendas,” which translates to “singing in another language so you won’t understand.” The words in Spanish are for that unnamed person, but the narrator’s hurt is so strong they don’t even want to be vulnerable about how they feel about that person. However, the part with his voice with strong autotune feels random and breaks me out of the story and feelings of the song.

“Life’s Unfair” starts with the narrator admitting they cheated on their partner, but feels so guilty about it and knows that their partner won’t take them back. The sound is nice and upbeat for such a crazy confession and feelings afterward.

We move to a song where Omar raps, “Against Me”. It is a change from the other songs, but it is still really good and blends into the album. I hope he creates more songs with him rapping in the future.

The next song is “While You Can,” where the narrator wants the person they are talking about to hold them while they are still together because they know it won’t last. I loved the lyrics and story in this song. It was a simple song but it’s still a great song. Apollo’s “worst” songs on the album are still great music.

My favorite song in the album is definitely “Dispose of Me.” The lyrics about their history, they can wait as long as it takes to have them again, were great. “You can leave me for 25 days, 25 months, you can leave me for 25 years, I’ll never give up” was my favorite set of lyrics in the song. The way he sang, with desperation and longing, was a great addition to the song and its meaning. Hearing this song makes you hear Apollo’s feelings in every lyric.

“How” had a great beat that was slow and fitting to the theme. I felt like “How” was a continuation of the breakup that happened earlier in the album, where the other person in the relationship was able to move on, while the narrator was stuck.

I am a big fan of Pedro Pascal. By the title name, I thought it was a song to “Pedro,” some person Omar has dated, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the monologue Pedro Pascal has in the song. It was a depressing event he went through, making me empathize and connect to the event. The audio sounds like he recorded it in his break to send to Omar, making the audio much more personal and intimate that we get to listen to it.

“Glow” ends the album with a grand finale. The instruments get louder, including Apollo’s voice, asking for one more dance with the person they speak to. It is a sad, longing song, but has an amazing instrumental ending, ending the song with a sad story, but giving a great instrumental end.

This album honestly made me feel a little depressed after hearing it – SO much heartbreak and yearning can be heard in his lyrics. The album is raw and deep, with Apollo pouring his feelings out to us about his failed relationship. He did a great job making the listener feel this pain. The happy beats with sad themes made me think of the narrator acting like everything was fine after the end of a relationship, but it completely changed in the second half of the album. I have to say I was more drawn to those sadder songs though. Overall, his lyrical work is great and makes you feel the heartbreak the narrator is going through. Thank you, Omar Apollo, for making me sad, it was very nice.