For the first time in weeks, I turned on my oil diffuser. 

I was feeling particularly stressed last night and the bottle of essential oils labeled “Stress Relief” seemed like nothing more than a scam, but I was willing to try it if it would provide some way for me to sleep. 

I added the scent to my oil diffuser that fills my room with slowly changing colors and put on my favorite Jeremy Zucker album to date—CRUSHER.

“I-70,” the first track on the album, can only be described as vibey. The beat and lyrics pair together to create the perfect song to help relax my body after a day at school. The song itself is about how Zucker doesn’t want to go home. The song ends abruptly, but transitions perfectly into the next song.

“Deep end” is the second song on Zucker’s sophomore album. This track seemed to have a deeper connection to Zucker’s mental health than any of the others. The lyrics consist of feeling like he’s going off the deep end and wishing he no longer had to pretend. Overall, the song was an extremely intimate look into his journey to get to where he is.

The tension in my shoulders already began to decrease as I shuffled into my bathroom and flipped the light switch on. I gently tied my hair back and smeared a mask across my face as “Cry with you” bounced off the blue walls of my shared bathroom. 

While most of the songs on this album have a slow pace, “Cry with you” is the slowest. The almost timid beats of the drum make this the perfect song to play when all that’s outside my window is a dark abyss. The very nature of the lyrics and the song are supportive throughout the three-and-a-half-minute period it played. 

I had already listened to a few of the songs on this album as they periodically showed up in my “Release Radar.” These songs that were released as singles—”HONEST,” “Therapist,” and “18”—provided a few more upbeat tracks to the album while still keeping with the overall theme of being relaxing to listen to. This trio of songs has been scattered throughout my playlists since their release, and I was excited to see them be on the album.

My favorite song on the album, “When i’m around,” played on repeat while I wrote this review. And as the colors in my room changed from red and orange to blue and purple, and as I washed the lavender-scented mask from my face, this song continued to play as a supporting sound to the noise my sister’s fan was making next door. 

And as “No one hates you (like i do)” sweetly and softly drifted into the surrounding air, I found myself with fewer knots in my shoulders and only the remnants of a stress headache. I recommend this album for the ambiance it creates. After listening, I no longer had an ache in my jaw, and I was able to relax enough to close my eyes and drift to sleep, the last thing I saw being the different colors of my oil diffuser.