Jeremy Zucker is currently one of the biggest stars on the indie pop scene, with 5.3 billion streams. fresh off of his Chelsea Cutler collaboration brent ii EP. After dropping “Supercuts” in 2020, Jeremy Zucker has proven he’s a master of the summer single. He’s returned with a new song, “18.”
Immediately, “18” is clearly being told through the eyes of a younger person — swim teams, slang and sixteen-year-old summer dreams fill the first verse. The music plods on, steady. The introductory guitar even sounds like the sequence from Fountains of Wayne’s classic “Stacey’s Mom,” which also centers around a younger guy pining for an older woman. Jeremy’s typically gentle voice sings about lying to parents and sneaking out to meet a girl.
The chorus hits and the song shifts, electric guitar rushing into the track like the overwhelming sensation of being a teenager. Jeremy sings about the fixture of the story with the awe of a young teen, “She’s 18/and she does what she likes/making out with strangers when she’s bored with her life/and she takes me to a whole ‘nother high…”
Anxieties about the girl not returning to see him, and the age gap reveal an unhealthy element to the song. As the sexuality of the relationship is explored through wordplay and the gaze of a young boy, the precariousness and illegality (especially with the reference to “videos”) of the dynamic is overlooked in exchange for the thrill of the attention and illicit activities, “I’m tryna take anatomy in her basement…She’s drawing up a bath…Kinda like staying up ‘til morning under candle light and swimming with you naked,” the perspective shifts, “So I blow off my friends just to see you again…”
IT’S FINISHED.
‘18’, coming june 24, https://t.co/5vBmiayFcC pic.twitter.com/hti0ehQvsM
— jeremy zucker (@jeremyzucker) June 15, 2021
Verses repeat, and “18” winds down with muffled beeps and winding noises under Jeremy crooning, “She’s eighteen…” The electronic noises depict the sound of a quieted arcade of television, once again imprinting a sense of youthfulness upon the listener.
“18” is sonically and thematically similar to both “18” by Anarbor and 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS). The rock influences on the chorus are distinctly similar to the chorus of Anarbor’s track, but the story is similar to 5SOS’ 2014 song. 5SOS’ “18” song was also about trying to date an 18-year-old girl as a younger guy, and feeling dizzied by her age and lifestyle, “She told me to meet her there/I can’t afford a bus fare/I’m not old enough for her/I’m just waiting ‘til I’m eighteen…”
Jeremy shared, “‘18’ is written from the perspective of a high schooler dating an older girl, and the thrills and excitement of that relationship. I wrote the song with some friends while we spent a week in Newport, Rhode Island. It feels straight from the soundtrack of an early 2000s coming-of-age film.”
Produced and written with massive star and friend of Jeremy’s, Quinn XCII, as well as Ayokay, the summer-feeling on the song is no mystery. Both artists are experts at dropping songs for and about the season. This track is a leap for Jeremy, showing off his ability as a storyteller and strength in a different musical space.
“18” is a song about youth, and the title is focused on a border age — 18 is still a teenager, but it’s the first age in the U.S. where you’re a technical adult. The depictions of friend groups hanging around, angry brothers, worried parents and dimly lit backyard pools create an image of a humid suburban summer.
“18” feels like teenage dreams, cheap bikinis, chlorine-bleached hair, sunburns, summer vacation and the nerves of seeing a crush at the pool.
