Omar Apollo’s God Said No Review: A Generic Look at Heartbreak
As visceral and painful as heartbreak can be, it takes an eminent writer to replicate those feelings with words. I think of Joanie Mitchell’s Blue and Taylor Swift’s Red as albums that mix resonant emotion with specific detail. Omar Apollo’s God Said No is full of relatable feelings and circumstances, but with little context to ground the listener, the album comes across as slightly generic.
God Said No marks the Mexican-American artist’s third studio album, a follow-up to his 2022 record, Ivory. Ivory is a smooth mix of buzzy bedroom pop and funky R&B sounds that culminate in a dream-like experience that excites the listener with each twist and turn.
Going in, I was expecting something similar, if not better, considering the shorter track length. Despite God Said No utilizing a mix of electronic synths and piano rifts, the 14-track record bleeds together monotonously. Many of the songs start with a grand build-up, but while the concepts are present, I never felt the album capitalized on the anticipation. As a result, the record feels like an uncooked meal with all the key ingredients sprinkled across half-heartedly.
When God Said No was announced, track 13, “Pedro,” made headlines as fans speculated the song either included actor Pedro Pascal or was about him. It ended up being the former—two and a half minutes of Pascal vaguely describing a moment of relief in a time of sorrow. Beyond my excitement about Pascal joining the project, I found his spoken interlude as aimless as the rest of the album’s lyricism. Listening to it again and again, I was unable to determine if Pascal was talking about grief, depression, or heartbreak and ultimately the point of his inclusion at all.
This was my biggest problem with the writing; I never knew what was happening. At the start of track 11, “Dispose of Me,” he says, “You’re making me feel insecure about things I ain’t thought about in years.” But what is he insecure about? How is he making you feel insecure? There is the argument that listeners can fill in the gaps, that the listener is smart enough to infer certain things, or that lyrics like these give listeners more space to tack their own experience onto the song.
While this can be true, heartbreak and romance are quite common topics in music, and describing common experiences that accompany these topics prohibits songs from standing out. Tracks like “Drifting” and “Empty” are devoid of any defining details, and I struggled to hold onto the lyrics as they became second thoughts to the production.
Apollo is a queer artist who has been open about his sexuality in both spoken interviews and his music. I was hoping for more representation, as in past songs like “Kamikaze” and “3 Boys,” that highlight his relationships with men. While queer artists should never be forced to write about their sexuality, this adds to the lack of details that would have made the tracks more focused and understandable.
“Done With You” and “Life’s Unfair” are easily my favorites on the record, with the latter using a piercing echo technique that kept me engaged. The lead single, “Spite,” is as fun and energetic as some of my favorites on Ivory. While the lyrics are neither profound nor intricate, they are catchy. The groovy production on all three makes these tracks worth revisiting.
This record is about heartbreak and the endless hurdles that come with it. I can imagine some of the songs are more poignant to those going through a heartbreak of their own, having a similar effect as “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo or “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Elish.
From a writing perspective, both those songs utilize spectacle, switching from acoustic to electric halfway through “Happier Than Ever” and the colossal beat drop in “Driver’s License.” Similarly, God Said No sacrifices true intimacy in favor of broader, potentially more palatable themes but lacks the awe factor that allows the latter to succeed.
There are some tracks for fans to enjoy, but if you’ve never dove into Apollo’s music before, I recommend both Ivory and his 2020 album Apolonio over this first. God Said No is by no means terrible, but rather an enjoyable deconstruction of a relationship that bubbles instead of boils.
Photo Courtesy of AITOR LASPIUR
