A pop ballad for the modern times, “Airbnb” by Aimee Vant is a beautifully written take on working through a relationship’s rough patch. Full of emotional despair, perfectly articulated yearn and hints of hope, “Airbnb” is an essential song to throw on when you need to feel less alone in your relationship struggles.
Conceptually, the song tackles the idea of working through hardships in a romantic relationship. With a unique twist, the setting of the track takes place in an Airbnb, also detailed by Aimee as a “halfway house.” I absolutely fell in love with this definition as soon as I heard it, as it represents so much more than just the location of these struggles. A halfway house implies the lack of anyone having a dominant territory to use to their advantage. Rather, it symbolizes two people having to emotionally and physically meet each other halfway in order to work together through heartache. Incredibly genius and fresh, Aimee Vant and co-writers James October and Travis Heidelman lyrically soar with just this one line alone.
James October and Travis Heidelman do an incredible job of creating an authentic and genuine sonic environment for the emotional message of despair to shine. The jarringly choppy rhythmic synths in the pre-chorus that ultimately lead to an explosive and more legato chorus is the perfect example of the instrumentation matching the emotion Aimee conveys in her lyrics. The choppiness of the pre-chorus, to me, represents Aimee aggressively expressing her last attempt at making this relationship work. Followed by “I know we’ll never be perfect it’s worth it” and an explosive chorus instrumentation wise, the built up tension seems to finally break in unison. A beautiful representation of those all too relatable emotions, everything about this instrumentation and vocal delivery is spot on.
Aimee Vant is a writer you’ll want to keep your eye on. Her lyrics and melodies left a lasting impression on me and I know it will do the same for others. Do yourself a favor and keep tabs on this artist before she inevitably soars.
