GET MEAN

In 2024, Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller ended their romantic relationship—but after soul searching on both sides (and a road trip around the US for Matthews), the two decided to keep Boy Harsher, their creative partnership, alive. GET MEAN sifts through the turmoil and melancholy that resulted, and as it turns out, Boy Harsher’s icy vision of New Wave is an ideal milieu for sorting through the detritus of a past relationship. When Matthews muses “Are we better off alone?/Will I come into my own?” amid the synth throb of “Faulty,” it evokes the idea of her world stopping, while her disaffected vocal melts into the spangled milieu of “Pray 4 Me” in a way that highlights her frustration over wanting salvation, or at least grace. GET MEAN reframes the idea of the breakup album, turning it into a collaborative effort that still manages to cut deeply.