Quannnic
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{{use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Quannnic
| image = File:Quannnic Live at the Constellation Room.png
| caption = Quannnic performing in Santa Ana, California, February 8, 2024
| image_size =
| origin = Florida, U.S.
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| years_active = 2020–present
| label = DeadAir
| website = {{url|quannnic.com}}
}}
Quannnic (born 2004 or 2005;{{Cite web |last=Hé |first=Kristen S. |date=2024-03-21 |title=Only Tomorrow: The Resurrection And Rewriting Of Shoegaze History |url=https://junkee.com/longform/shoegaze-tiktok-resurgence |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Junkee |language=en-US}} stylized in all lowercase) is an American musician. Initially presenting a digicore sound, they{{efn|Quannnic is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.{{Cite web |last=Enis |first=Eli |date=2023-12-18 |title=TikTok Has Made Shoegaze Bigger Than Ever |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2245469/tiktok-has-made-shoegaze-bigger-than-ever/columns/sounding-board/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}}} began releasing music as Quannnic in late 2020 and released their debut studio album, Kenopsia, in February 2022. A track from the album, "Life Imitates Life", unexpectedly went viral on TikTok and charted on Billboard{{'s}} Hot Hard Rock Songs. Quannnic's second studio album, Stepdream, was released in November 2023, and they later co-headlined an American tour with Jane Remover. On Quannnic's musical style, sources mostly described it as shoegaze, with Kenopsia mixing glitch elements and Stepdream emo.
Career
Originally from Florida, Quannnic has played guitar since they were six. They initially presented a digicore sound and became popular by their pop rap songs. However, by 2021, they felt creatively constrained by that sound and began shifting towards more rock-oriented styles; that year, they started releasing music under the name Quannnic. Their debut studio album, Kenopsia, was independently released in February 2022. In early 2023, a track from the album, "Life Imitates Life", went viral on TikTok. By November, the song had been used in 16,000 clips on the platform, and it charted at number 23 on Billboard{{'s}} Hot Hard Rock Songs with 525,000 official streams earned in the U.S;{{Cite web |last=Zellner |first=Xander |date=2023-11-08 |title=10 First-Timers on Billboard{{'s}} Charts This Week: Dylan Marlowe, Bby, JaidynAlexis, 310babii & More |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/billboard-charts-first-timers-dylan-marlowe-jaidyn-alexis-1235466402/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Billboard |language=en-US}} on Spotify, it had 30 million streams by December. On its popularity, Quannnic said: "It was just really weird to me that something I made when I was 16 could get this much attention now. It impacted the way I make music. It got a lot more stressful." The album was later reissued by DeadAir Records.
Quannnic released Stepdream, their second studio album, in November 2023. They co-headlined Jane Remover's 2024 U.S. tour, which began in February of that year.{{Cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=2023-10-31 |title=Jane Remover Announces 2024 U.S. Tour |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/jane-remover-announces-2024-us-tour/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} Quannnic played at the Sick New World Festival on April 27, 2024.{{Cite web |last=DeVille |first=Chris |date=2023-10-09 |title=Sick New World Festival Announces 2024 Lineup |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2238492/nu-metal-fest-sick-new-world-announces-2024-lineup/news/ |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=Stereogum |language=en}} In November, they opened for Slowdive at their American tour.{{Cite web |last=Pearis |first=Bill |date=November 11, 2024 |title=Slowdive on tour now, with openers Wisp and Quannnic |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/slowdive-on-tour-now-with-openers-wisp-and-quannnic/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=BrooklynVegan |language=en-US}}
Musical style
Quannnic's profile at AllMusic says they blend shoegaze, lo-fi, noise, and electronic bedroom pop.{{Cite web |last=Monger |first=Timothy |title=Quannnic Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/quannnic-mn0004452331#biography |access-date=2024-04-23 |publisher=AllMusic |language=en}} Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork described Quannnic's music as containing much Auto-Tune and "post-everything bedroom beats", which "restored some of shoegaze's crystalline detail in their sparkling, digitally rendered high end".{{Cite web |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |date=2023-12-14 |title=The Shoegaze Revival Hit Its Stride in 2023 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-shoegaze-revival-hit-its-stride-in-2023/ |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} Eli Enis of Stereogum said that Quannnic's music has an "artificial rumble" comparable to Parannoul's computerized sound in To See the Next Part of the Dream. Quannnic has named Superheaven as an influence.
Although Quannnic employed various digital instruments on Kenopsia, they prefer using a real guitar to create their shoegaze elements. Eli Enis of Stereogum described Kenopsia as a mix between shoegaze, the glitchy elements of digicore, and Deftones-like nu-gaze, with a singing akin to emo-rap. Jordan Darville of The Fader wrote that it "embraced glitch-pop and the anime intro electronics of Porter Robinson", being similar to old songs by Jane Remover.{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2023 |title=New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Wiki & Tony Seltzer, George Riley, King Louie Bankston, and more |url=https://www.thefader.com/2023/11/10/new-music-friday-stream-new-projects-from-wiki--tony-seltzer-george-riley-king-louie-bankston-and-more |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=The Fader |language=en}} Singaporean band Sobs chose Kenopsia as one of their favorite albums of 2022 to Brooklyn Vegan, with member Celine saying: "Indie rock melodies glimmering with autotune over a gloomy hyperpop-meets-shoegaze backdrop. Perfect record for the post-internet music consumer".{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2022 |title=Sobs list their favorite albums of 2022, touring North America in 2023 |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/sobs-list-their-favorite-albums-of-2022-touring-north-america-in-2023/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Brooklyn Vegan |language=en-US}} Kristen S. Hé of Junkee said that "Life Imitates Life" could be "mistaken for a lo-fi Deftones cover"; Quannnic said that the track was inspired by that band and Paramore, and Enis highlighted its "grungy" elements.
Enis found Stepdream to be influenced by Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley and felt that Quannnic "swerved in a more collegiate singer-songwriter direction" with it. Similarly, Darville wrote that the album shows Quannnic's capabilities "as a songwriter of brooding guitar-based jams". He felt that, "[b]eneath the foggy textures and hazily cooed lyrics, there's a real sense of stakes on Stepdream, like its songs are Quannnic's last, best chance to define [themselves]". Leor Galil of Chicago Reader said that Stepdream is inspired by alternative rock subgenres such as emo and shoegaze.{{Cite web |last=Galil |first=Leor |date=2024-02-05 |title=Quannnic gives alt-rock an emotional force that makes it feel huge |url=http://chicagoreader.com/music/concert-preview/quannnic-alt-rock-stepdream-subterranean/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Chicago Reader |language=en-US}} Abby Kenna of Ones to Watch said that, with the album, "Quannnic refines their unique perspective, blending their influences that reach from metal to folk while keeping their voice and emotional turmoil consistent."{{Cite web |last=Kenna |first=Abby |date=November 13, 2023 |title=Quannnic's Stepdream Is a Melancholic Yet Hopeful Testament From a Budding Cult Icon |url=http://www.onestowatch.com/en/blog/quannnic-stepdream |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Ones to Watch |language=en}}
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable" | |
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Kenopsia | * Released February 28, 2022 |
| Stepdream | * Released November 10, 2023
|
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" style="width:15em;"| Title ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Album |
| scope="row" | "Replica"
| rowspan="8" | 2021 | rowspan="4" {{Non-album singles}} |
|---|
| scope="row" | "One Second of Sympathy" |
| scope="row" | "Come Down From Above" (with D0llywood1) |
| scope="row" | "Reach" |
| scope="row" | "Nail"
| rowspan="4" | Kenopsia |
| scope="row" | "Think With Your Lungs" |
| scope="row" | "What Does This Room Look Like" |
| scope="row" | "Life Imitates Life" |
| scope="row" | "Cards"
| rowspan="3" | 2022 | rowspan="3" {{Non-album singles}} |
| scope="row" | "Sheets" (demo) |
| scope="row" | "A Mind of Her Own" (Pedro the Lion cover) |
| scope="row" | "Comatose"
| rowspan="3" | 2023 | rowspan="3" | Stepdream |
| scope="row" | "How to Hold a Knife" |
| scope="row" | "South" |
| scope="row" | "Wrenches"
| 2025 | {{TBA}} |
=Music videos=
| class="wikitable" |
| Song
!Year !Director |
|---|
| "Life Imitates Life"
|rowspan="3"| 2023 |Rich Smith & Fiona Kane |
| "Comatose"
|Blindlight & Yams |
| "Rummage" (featuring Orbiting Human Circus) |Blindlight |
Notes
{{Notelist}}