Fight off imposter syndrome with Jillian Lake on her new track “Worse”

The music industry is dog-eat-dog. Extremely competitive and overly masculine, and as a feminine person, it’s incredibly easy to feel small and unworthy. The world acts as if there's no space for women and pushes them out. You have to learn to push back and that is how you make it through. 

Existing in the realm of indie bedroom pop, Jillian Lakes’ new single “Worse” bares her frustrations with the music industry and imposter syndrome, pulling in the best sonic elements of the genre. 

The track masterfully utilizes the simplest drum patterns, creating intrigue in an otherwise dreamy and hazy instrumental. The instrumentation not only perfectly balances the themes and vocals of the track but it also recreates the misty landscape that harbors self-doubt. These thoughts can fog up an otherwise clear mind and the instrumental demonstrates this beautifully. It builds into something more hopeful as the track progresses showing growth in the singer's confidence. 

“Worse” is a battle cry. The repeating lyric, “I don’t owe you,” is an echo that slowly replaces the self-deprecating thoughts that sometimes take over Lakes’ mind. 

“This goes out to all the sound guys who mansplained to me how to sing into a microphone, the pretentious self-proclaimed ‘rockers’ who made me feel like I wasn't enough for not caring about how to play guitar or not nerding out over guitar pedals, and for all the times I felt like I was taken less seriously in music, by others or even by myself,” she said in a recent press release. 

She’s over the constant self-doubt and beratement she just wants to make music and that's what she will do. Lakes is finally able to feel confident in herself once again and triumphantly declares, “Frankly, I don’t give a damn.”  

The song is about women's struggles in the male-dominated music industry. Mansplaining runs rampant in these spaces and if you don’t build a thick skin the constant belittlement can get to you. That being said, this is a song for the masses––anyone who has had someone who has made them feel less than in their field. The track is a self-confidence boost for listeners and encourages them to fight for their much-deserved respect. Anyone who feels like they've put up with other people for too long can rock out to this unapologetic anthem.