Over the past few years, Sombr has slowly but surely etched a space for himself as a bedroom pop artist operating in a mainstream pop world. After his single “Carolina” went viral in 2022, he dropped out of high school to pursue music as a full-time career, releasing a steady stream of singles that positioned him as a hazy DIY musician with solid pop leanings.
Now, following a pair of breakthrough singles — “Undressed” and “Back to Friends” — the 20-year-old is releasing his first marquee mission statement with his debut album “I Barely Know Her.” On it, Sombr elevates the bedroom pop of his earlier work, giving it a more muscular, swaggering sound. He exudes confidence across its 10 tracks, even though he spends them sulking over an ex who’s since moved on. And yet, “I Barely Know Her” still feels like a triumphant arrival of sorts, the first real statement from an artist with a clear vision and a sound that grows more distinct with each release.
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“I Barely Know Her” is a breakup album in the traditional sense. Sombr is forlorn, wounded by the demise of a relationship that keeps him from moving on. He watches from across the train tracks to see his ex with another guy on “Undressed,” and mainlines cigarettes to remind him of her on the wistful “Canal Street” (a form of mourning that Variety does not endorse). Even on the record’s splashier fare — the disco-popped banger “12 to 12,” the stomping “Under the Mat” — he’s in a prison of his own emotions. “Oh, you’re in my DNA,” he sings on “I Wish I Knew How to Quit You.” “You’re the echo in my veins.”
Sombr’s reverence for the tropes of pop’s past looms large over “I Barely Know Her,” a record deeply indebted to Beach Boys’ signature harmonies and Brian Wilson’s vocal flair. Think of it as a more streamlined version of a Panda Bear album, albeit in a different universe: Sombr builds his harmonies like a wall of sound, his sustained “oohs” acting as padding for meticulously arranged choruses on songs like “We Never Dated” and “I Wish I Knew How to Quit You.”
Some of that can likely be credited to Tony Berg, who co-produces alongside Sombr across almost every song. Berg is a veteran whose career reaches back to the ’80s but whose more recent work includes Phoebe Bridgers’ “Punisher” and Lizzy McAlpine. Here, he adds fullness to and broadens the scope of Sombr’s established sound. But the album — written entirely by Sombr, who also plays guitar, keyboards, bass and drums on pretty much every track — still manages to be singular, ushering elements of 2010s indie rock into a pop arena.
“I Barely Know Her” may not be a seismic shift for Sombr, but it expands the world he’s inhabited for the past few years, and does so with intent. He sounds like he’s stepped out of the bedroom and onto the big stage, bursting with ideas and equipped with the skills to see them through. That he manages to do it while wallowing in the throes of heartbreak makes the payoff even sweeter.