Superdestroyer – I Hate What You've Done With The Place | Single Premiere

How would you describe being unwanted? It’s a complex emotion to articulate, often more of an unspoken feeling than anything explicitly said. Sure, sometimes tension inevitably mounts up and things boil over into a fight, but what about those slow-simmering feelings? You know the ones I’m talking about; the co-worker who never has too much to say to you, the friend that you talk to less and less with each passing year, the person you have a crush on and can’t tell if it’s mutual or if you’re just bugging them. 

Sometimes the feeling of being unwanted can be exasperated by our own anxieties, but other times they’re founded, and it’s just a matter of time until they’re out in the open. And which is worse in that scenario? Knowing that your worry was correct, or the hurt of it actually being true? This creeping uncertainty is the feeling that lies at the heart of “I Hate What You’ve Done With The Place,” the newest single from anonymous one-man solo project Superdestroyer. This song comes hot on the heels of last year’s Such Joy (a lovely little experimental emo joint that I wrote about here) and feels like a logical continuation of the awesomely unique sounds that Superdestroyer was crafting throughout their last release. 

The song begins with an oceanic one-second whir that soon becomes eclipsed by a solitary looped guitar lick. Remorseful vocals quickly fill up the remaining space, fleshing out these feelings of singled-out awkwardness. 

I see the look that you give to me
It’s like I’ve got something written across my face
I can’t pretend I like the way that it’s been
And just to be frank, I hate what you’ve done with the place. 

Soon after deploying the song’s titular line, a single low bassline rattles out underneath a second even more distorted guitar. These two additions act as harbingers for the rest of the instruments, forecasting the additional layer of bass, drums, and guitar to come, all of which emanate from the same singular source of Superdestroyer. 

As the remainder of the lyrics flesh out feelings of contempt for being trapped in this situation, the band launches into a snappy emo sway that guides the track forward. The resolution here is how most of these situations end, with the feelings being unveiled as mutual. “I don’t want to be here either,” our narrator reveals as the song gradually pairs back down to its original elements. The bass and drums fade as a soulful guitar solo plays out. Soon all that’s left is the same looped guitar riff that has acted as the song’s grounding force throughout. Eventually, this guitar too fades away, leaving us alone as these emotions wash out into the silent darkness. 

It’s only two minutes, but “I Hate What You’ve Done With The Place” perfectly captures the looming awkwardness that can arise from human interactions. It’s not like one person on either side of these interactions is “evil,” it’s just that the pairing itself is bad. This song captures the often-inarticulable feeling of finding out your worst anxieties are true. It also acts as an abridged journey that both parties often must go through in order to come to terms with that fact independently. The disdain is mutual.

Within the world of the song, this is portrayed as ill-fated roommates. Most of us have been there; awkward kitchen interactions, weird biting remarks that get under your skin, little things that rub you the wrong way and eventually build up into something more substantial. The interesting thing is how malleable this idea proves to be. There are an infinite number of situations where our brains can trick ourselves into feeling unwanted, some of which may be true, but most of the time is just our own head being mean. 

Sometimes this buildup of the unwanted is inevitable; other times, it’s a weird standoff of trying to figure out if the other person or group of people feel the same way as you. Is this a real feeling that I’m picking up, or is it all in my head? That’s always the question, isn’t it? 

“I Hate What You've Done With The Place” releases on all streaming services on 2/16, and Superdestroyer's upcoming LP In Your Loneliness, Your Holiness will be out on 2/25 on Lonely Ghost Records.