| Teen Week | ||||
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 Standard cover | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | February 26, 2021 | |||
| Studio | Remover's bedroom (New Jersey) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 24:52 | |||
| Label | Self-released | |||
| Producer | Jane Remover | |||
| Jane Remover chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Teen Week | ||||
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Teen Week is the debutextended play (EP) by the American musicianJane Remover. It wasself-released under their former name Dltzk on February 26, 2021, before they changed their stage name in 2022. Remover wrote songs for the EP while in school and at home and produced the EP while they were applying to colleges.Teen Week is adigicore andprogressive pop EP inspired by theelectronica andelectronic dance music of the musicianPorter Robinson; some tracks feature16-bit or 8-bit music and theAmen break. Its lyricism pertains to personal growth struggles, as well as themes ofadolescence. After voicing their frustrations with the EP, Remover released an abridged version in 2022.
Teen Week was preceded by two singles—"Woodside Gardens 16 December 2012" and "52 Blue Mondays"—in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The EP received critical praise upon release, withlaut.de ranking it among the best EPs of the year andPitchfork considering it one of the best progressive pop albums of the year. The EP has later been recognized as a milestone in digicore by audiences and a pioneering release in the genre by publications.The Line of Best Fit deemed it one of the besthyperpop releases of all time, whilePaste deemed it one of the greatest EPs of all time.
In early 2020, the American musicianJane Remover started to createdigicore music[1] and released anextended play (EP),No Words, Just a Picture of Me, in July 2020, under the alias High Zoey.[2] They began working on their debut EP under the Jane Remover name,Teen Week,[3] by writing songs either in school or while laying in bed early in the morning.[4] They recorded the EP in their bedroom inNew Jersey.[5] They had to wait before their parents left the house to record their vocals, so they would start with producing songs for the EP before recording vocals. The majority of the song "52 Blue Mondays" was pre-recorded in July 2020, before a completed version of the song was finished, and later thought of an idea to create a new version of the song. The album was produced during a time when Remover was applying to colleges and their grades depleted over the course of its production. They describe the EP's title as a "phrase that represents going down the wrong path in life and not having much control about it".[4] In an interview withLyrical Lemonade, they expressed hope that the EP would be their "big break" and they "just want people to know who [they are]."[4]
On December 16, 2020, Remover released "Woodside Gardens 16 December 2012", a single forTeen Week.[4][6] It was followed by another single, "52 Blue Mondays", on January 21, 2021.[4][7] The EP wasself-released on February 26, 2021,[8] under their former name Dltzk, before they changed their stage name to Jane Remover in 2022.[3] A day before its release, the EP wasleaked.[9] After its release, Remover's school counselor called them into her room after one of Remover's classmates wrote an essay about "52 Blue Mondays"; the lyric "I feel like dying every season" made the counselor want to check if Remover felt fine. In an interview withPitchfork in January 2022, Remover said they would rate the EP "a 4 or a 5 out of 10", and they could no longer listen to some songs from the EP.[10] After announcing their gender transition, they expressed their disapproval ofTeen Week and mentioned they would release an abridged version.[11] The abridged version was later released, consisting of four songs compared to the original eight.[12]
Teen Week is a digicore[13] andprogressive pop[14] EP inspired by theelectronica andelectronic dance music of the musicianPorter Robinson.[10][13] It incorporates popular underground production elements, includingbitcrushed and robotic vocals,breakbeats,breakcore sequences, and stuttering electronic instrumentals.[10][13] Its production also containsjungle beats and anAvril Lavigne sample.[14] The EP is largely about leaving behind people, past places, and previous versions of oneself,[3] as well as themes ofadolescence.[14] Some moments of the EP depart from breakbeats for16-bit sounds and lyrics about high school struggles, such as self-comparison andquarantine isolation.[15] Multiple tracks contain theAmen break and samples of "Blue Eyes" (2019) byEcco2K.[3]
Teen Week's opening track, "Let Down", is emotional in its content and draws inspiration from Ecco2K.[3][16] It is followed by "Homeswitcher", ahyperpop song with guest vocals from Kmoe. The song is driven by asynthesizer lead that carries the song's melodies and is accompanied by breakbeat drums and fuzzy bass.[17] A digicore song, "52 Blue Mondays" features multiple sound elements, such as samples of screaming, synthesizer waves, and snapping drums. With its bitcrushed vocals, the song featuresambient-sounding noise, utilizes the Amen break, and dissolves by the end. "Dysphoria" is also inspired by Ecco2K and showcases Remover perform monotone singing of vulnerable lyrics.[3][16] It is followed by "Cartridge", aballad about being upset after reading atweet that reminds Remover of their father. They sing the line "Sorry I'm not what you wanted, I know you can't try again" repeatedly, over an 8 bit instrumental reminiscent of an olderPokémon video game.[3]Pitchfork's Mano Sundaresan described the two track run of "Beast Friend" and "Woodside Gardens 16 December 2012" as "electric".[3] On the latter, its frenzied two-minutes buildup climaxes with an Amen break,[3] and Remover performs a scream in its second half.[16] The final track, "Seventeen", begins with an opening line of "I hate everything 'cause everything hates me too".[10] The song expresses themes of adolescence and was written about Remover's feelings of jealousy toward their friends, who are more popular musicians than themself, and being looked down on at school.[3][10] Sundaresan wrote that the line "I wish I blew up like yesterday" is "less about material aspiration than it is about becoming".[3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| laut.de |   [16] |
| Pitchfork | 7.2/10[3] |
Upon its release,Teen Week received critical praise.[18] In a positive review fromPitchfork, Sundaresan wrote that Remover "has a strong ear for motion" and each track "push[es] this genre further from its roots towards something more complex, more definitvely of its own substance".[3] He also wrote that "52 Blue Mondays" "tore through the digicore scene like a comet".[3] Though, he felt the tracks "Let Down" and "Dysphoria" were "limp imitation[s]" of Ecco2K's sound.[3] In a review forlaut.de, Mirco Leier felt the "vulnerability and openness"[a] displayed on the EP separated it from other digicore releases. They[b] felt the variety of genres the EP pulls from creates a "fittingly enervating soundtrack for the teenage angst the underlies the project".[c] They disliked the production on "Let Down" and said the EP "may still sound a bit rough around the edges",[d] but concluded by writing that it is one of the best digicore releases of the year.[16] The EP was included inPitchfork's list of the "Best Progressive Pop Music" of the year; Cat Zhang called it "an explosive ride through adolescence".[14] The staff fromlaut.de considered it the seventh best EP of 2021; their writer said it "contributes to maintaining hyperpop's optimism".[e][20]
Following its release,Teen Week has been viewed as a milestone in digicore by audiences,[15] and Zhang called it a "lodestar ofSoundCloud's digicore scene".[10] It was considered the 14th best hyperpop release of all time byThe Line of Best Fit in 2022; Noah Simon said the EP was the first digicore release to set new standards and shape the sound of future projects in the genre. He lauded its ability to showcase the many key elements of the digicore sound, and felt Remover "perfected" them.[13] He further stated, "It displayed the potential for what a digicore album could be. It was a full artistic statement, not just a loose assemblage of chaotic singles".[13] In 2024, the staff fromPaste deemedTeen Week the 37th best EP of all time. Leah Weinstein said that "every sound vies for your attention regardless of how many layers of bitcrushing it's been through".[5]Business Insider's Kieran Press-Reynolds called it Remover's "first major break".[1] Jordan Darville fromThe Fader described it as "a watershed achievement" in hyperpop and digicore and felt it stands out for merging genres to express teenage angst.[21]
All tracks are written and produced byJane Remover.[12]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let Down" | 3:09 |
| 2. | "Homeswitcher" (with Kmoe) | 2:25 |
| 3. | "52 Blue Mondays" | 3:21 |
| 4. | "Dysphoria" | 3:00 |
| 5. | "Cartridge" | 2:51 |
| 6. | "Beast Friend" | 3:27 |
| 7. | "Woodside Gardens 16 December 2012" | 2:39 |
| 8. | "Seventeen" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 24:52 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Homeswitcher" (with Kmoe) | 2:25 |
| 2. | "52 Blue Mondays" | 3:21 |
| 3. | "Woodside Gardens 16 December 2012" | 2:39 |
| 4. | "Seventeen" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 12:25 | |
Credits adapted fromSoundCloud.[12]