Quinn XCII’s “A Letter To My Younger Self” [Review]

I started listening to Quinn XCII a couple of months back and I didn’t think that “A Letter To My Younger Self” would become my comfort album let alone one of my favorites.

Releasing on July 10th, 2020, “A Letter to My Younger Self” is Quinn XCII’s third studio album and released with rather mixed reviews. Quinn XCII’s namesake is actually an acronym, where Quinn stands for “quit unless your instincts are never neglected”, which translates to just trying to accomplish whatever you want to in life. The XCII is the roman numeral for 92 referencing the fact that he was born in 1992.

For this review, I’ll be referencing the wonderful Zach Sang and his interview with Quinn XCII as well as an interview Quinn XCII did with Jason Andreas.

“A Letter To My Younger Self” is an album all about nostalgia. Quinn XCII’s goal for the album was to represent his high school experience and to give his younger self advice with the foresight he has now. We see this theme throughout the album and the tracklist is ordered in such a way where the first few songs represent the beginning of high school building up to the last few tracks where it finishes off with the end of high school. The album is genuinely based on Quinn XCII’s high school experience.

Starting the album off is “Am I High Rn (feat. blackbear)”. This song starts off very delicately, and what I mean by that is that it’s very quiet and airy. The vocalization echoes as if it was in an empty room and it eases you into the rest of the song. Pretty much every other instrument we hear in the song other than the drums uses pizzicato and it just adds to the open and airy effect. This song is very much about Quinn XCII’s first time smoking weed. In his interview with Zach Sang, Quinn XCII said that this was a life-defining moment for him as he was in the backyard of a house with a bunch of friends all smoking. The lyrics and the usage of a harmony engine on the vocals paint such a vivid picture and it really puts you into Quinn XCII’s first experience. This song heavily emphasizes all of the experiences all of the thoughts of a bad trip, hyper-focusing on the little things, weird visions and hallucinations, and paranoia. The tempo feels pretty slow as well which is in line with the theme of the song as it does feel like the world slows down when you’re high. While the album is very much about high school, blackbear’s verse on the album is something that pretty much every young adult thinks about on a daily basis. The way that this track perfectly blends a reality where “the sun burned down” and where “the sky caved in”, with something more realistic that everyone experiences like confronting themselves with how they’re “paranoid of bein’ themself”, really puts you in the right mindset of what it’s like being high.

The song “Stacy” was the inspiration for the entire album. The track was written along with Jon Bellion with the goal of a nostalgic late 90’s song that still fits into modern pop. You can actually hear Bellion’s backing vocals in parts of the song. Stacy is based on a real person in Quinn XCI’Is life, and we’ll see her pop up a bit later. This song is your typical love story between a freshman and senior. While there isn’t much to dig into lyrically, the instrumental is absolutely wonderful. Quinn XCII has a habit of making upbeat songs with heavy-hitting themes. And “Stacy”’s tale of highschool romance and heartbreak is something that we’ve all been through. The almost ethereal sounding female vocalist is such a delight on this track and we really see how this song influences the rest of the album with its sound.

Sleep While I Drive (Ft. Ashe) is a song all about baggage and “bearing burdens”. Despite this track featuring Ashe’s lovely vocals, it’s one of the weaker songs on the album. There really isn’t too much going on lyrically and the instruments aren’t anything too special.

Quinn XCII describes “Second Time Around” as the most powerful song he has ever made. This song is all about making mistakes and learning about self-forgiveness as well as self-love. This track features the piano as the only instrument which makes it feel a lot rawer than all of the other tracks on this album. You can tell it’s recorded on a real piano as well which just adds to that feeling. You can really see why this Quinn XCII thinks this is the most powerful song he’s ever written as it’s a struggle we all experience. We all beat ourselves up over things, whether the mistake is big or small, this track resonates with all of us. Thinking that we’ve let someone down is one of the worst feelings and doing your best to remedy that with another chance is all that we can hope for. Learning to appreciate yourself and respect yourself more is one of the greatest strengths you can have as a person and Quinn XCII really puts that into perspective with this track. Something that put me off on this song when I started to give it a real listen, is that I feel like I almost heard a doorbell during the chorus. It’s clear that it’s supposed to be more ambient sounds but it was a bit offputting for sure.

“Coffee (feat. Marc E. Bassy)” is a breakup song that features Quinn XCII’s signature upbeat sound. This song is quite stripped down but not as much as “Second Time Around”. The track’s lyrics describe the singer making two cups of coffee out of habit for themself and their partner who they are no longer with. While the singer misses their partner, they acknowledge that their partner was thinking about other people. The music video for “Coffee” is something really special. Recorded entirely on iPhones and home security cameras, Quinn XCII’s wife, Macy, filmed the entire video over the course of a 12-hour call with the rest of the directing team over Zoom. Check out the behind the scenes here.

Pivoting back into the highschool theme, “Notice Me” is a track all about being the shy kid in school. Being too scared to make something of yourself and struggling with being outgoing is something that all kids deal with as well as adults. Hoping that one day everything will all work out is something that passes through my mind every day and this track hits that feeling right on the nose. The feeling that things are “remaining black and white” is all too real, especially when this album released during quarantine of the Covid-19 pandemic, everything feels uncertain but we can all hope that we’ll wake up in a world full of color. This song goes heavy on the acoustic guitar and drums which makes it feel authentic in a way.

The album’s title track “A Letter To My Younger Self (feat. Logic)” is probably the most different-sounding on the entire album. While we still hear the sound that Quinn XCII is known for, Logic’s influence is felt throughout the song. This track is the title track for a reason, as it sums up the theme of the album completely. While the whole album is partially a retelling of Quinn XCII’s life, it also focuses on how you should improve yourself. Quinn XCII is telling his younger self that everything that younger him is worrying about is only temporary and that looking back he’s smiling at it. Logic’s verse on the track is about his own life and struggles. Logic was on a hiatus while this song came out and he tells the tale of what’s been going on in his life and what he’s looking toward in the future. Logic’s verse actually had to be cut down as it was initially too long. Overall this track’s use of synths is an absolute treat and something that is really unique to this song. It’s one of the stronger tracks on the album and it’s a nice break from the darker themes we heard in the last few songs.

Young love is a common theme on this album and that’s pretty evident in “More Than Friends”. The singer is reminiscing about how they should’ve seen the signs and taken the chance on a person they were interested in back in school. The background vocalizations in this track are great and the bass makes you want to bob your head. With that said, the bridge is probably the most notable thing about this song as it’s very different from anything else on the album. The distortions are a pleasure and they really set this song apart from the rest of the album.

“Mad At Me” is another song about love, but it is on the other side of the spectrum. This song is about the passing of a partner after they have died of old age. Quinn XCII even said on Twitter that this song was based on the movie UP. The main instruments in this song are the guitar and violin and it really puts you in the mindset of loss.

“Two 10s” sees the return of the infamous “Stacy”. This song is about the feeling of how money was an abstract concept as a kind and how $20 felt like it could go a really long way despite it being very little as an adult. The singer manages to convince their parents to give them the money, while explaining to themself they won’t be doing any drugs like how Stacy might. This track is a real throwback to what it’s like being a kid and how much it feels like you need to get your parent’s permission for everything. The bass and drums are the stars of this song and you can’t help but smile when this track comes on.

“Meeting Strangers” actually references a girl from one of Quinn XCII’s other songs, “Straightjacket”. The song is based on the transition from high school to college. Quinn XCII went through a breakup with a girl during the summer before his first year at college and this song reflects not only his thoughts but his ex-girlfriend’s thoughts as well. The best part about this song is its bridge which is just vocalizations and it makes you want to sing along to the “ay’s”, “oh’s”, and “la-la-la’s”.

To close out the album is “Everything I Need”. This song is about graduation and the closing of a chapter in your life. Quinn XCII is telling his younger self to enjoy the journey of growing up and how the buildup is so much better than the final event. Quinn XCII references that AJR’s “Neotheather” was a huge inspiration for this song (Review Here!). While things remain uncertain, looking back, there really was nothing to worry about. This song has a lot of soul feeling in it and Quinn XCII’s “mouth trumpet noises” are a really fun addition. This song best describes Quinn XCII’s current life and how things may remain uncertain, he can get through it with friends and family.

Final Thoughts

“A Letter To My Younger Self” is an upbeat sounding album with some dark themes. While the main focus is self-improvement you manage to get lost in the soul side of the album. This was one of my comfort albums while locked inside my house for the latter half of 2020 and it’s pretty obvious to see why. I fit the target demographic of this album and it really resonates with me and probably a lot of other people too. There are a few dull moments in the album, but overall it’s a really solid piece.

Quinn XCII Breaks Down His New Album “A Letter To My Younger Self“ + Working w/ Logic & Jon Bellion

Album Score: 8/10
Favorite track: “A Letter To My Younger Self (feat. Logic)”

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