Not Enough is the new dark-pop indie track from LA based musician Kyler Slater, and it rides like a gloomy swoon of overwhelming desperation that somehow manages to capture something thrilling and sexual. It is an insight into a moment in which a person can feel like they somehow aren’t worthy... A feeling that you might not be enough.
Describing the song, Slater is openly vulnerably about how he feels. I’m going to go ahead and quote the full thing, because it feels important context for what is a dark but important record:
“I actually do believe that I am not enough, and thats a shame. Although I am trying to shed that and move on, I still write about it. Feelings of being inadequate in any relationship hurt, especially so when that relationship is also with yourself. I wasn’t raised to handle any healthy relationships, my childhood was filled with witnessing my mothers addiction and my fathers domestic abuse. I have had to completely fight to rebuild the mindset I’ve carried from youth. Not Enough is an attempt at taking these feelings and putting the less pleasant ones down to paper so that I can work though them and hopefully be a voice for others who struggle with similar issues.”
Full disclosure: I haven’t been through an upbringing that contained the challenging things Slater’s did. My parents divorced, but otherwise I was the product of a loving family (and we continue to love and respect each other). Still, I recognise what Slater is talking about here. The sense of shame, inadequacy and of being undeserving. It can creep up on you and make it feel easier to self-sabotage, or choose options that restrict your ability to feel things so you don’t have to risk feeling sad. Maybe we all feel this sometimes, I’m not sure... But I know I have. And this record makes me feel a little less alone.
Not Enough is a song that feels like the demons on your back. The gentle guitar, those haunting vocal harmonies, that grimey, grungy feel. It’s a sublime, vulnerable tribute to the toxicity we sometimes allow to flow inside us. It’s a brave record, one that makes it feel a little less lonely sometimes feeling bad.
Check out Not Enough below, or keep scrolling for the video.