Singled Out: Florencia & the Feeling's Birthday

Keavin Wiggins | 03-26-2023

Album art

Pop/funk fusion band Florencia & the Feeling just released their new album "Birthday." To celebrate we asked Florencia Rusiñol to tell us about the record's title track. Here is the story:

Most of the album was written after a gut-wrenching breakup that ended in a cross-country move and a lot of pieces to pick up. And even though there were many things wrong with that relationship, the story told in "Birthday" encompasses a lot of anger and resentment that permeated that partnership, and eventually led to its end.

Being a Libra means I always wanted to receive love on my birthday; not excessive gifts or surprises, but at least be remembered and honored in some way. If you know a Libra, celebrate their birthday week. Anyway, in 2018, the last birthday I spent with this person, I felt forgotten. It was our fifth year together and no plans had been made, not a single card or gift had been given-nothing. To make matters worse, his parents bought me a cake, his friends made plans for me, and he was nowhere to be seen. That weekend, when I threw myself a birthday party, he insisted that I buy a live pass to a "super important" MMA match that was on that night, so he and his friends could watch. I did everything, and he sat and watched. Recounting this story fills me with a white hot rage, which was exactly the kind of energy that I channeled into this song.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted this song to have elements of punk-pop music, the angsty music of my teen years. As we added more and more layers of thick guitar and crunchy synth, it truly became the pop-punk anthem of my dreams.

Although all songwriters write from a unique perspective, I always want to write songs that are as relatable as they are personal, and I knew from chatting with friends and watching movies that I'm not the only one who's been blatantly disregarded on their birthday. So this is for you, reader: if you, like me, are a birthday person and you're with someone who doesn't really give a crap about your birthday-RUN! This isn't some "not a big deal" thing, it's you telling your partner that this is special to you and them not caring. I eventually realized that my birthday was not the only aspect of me/us that he didn't care about, and you're probably in that situation, too. It's NEVER too late to start living life how (and with whom) you wanna live it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here