REVIEW: "Look What You Made Me Do" by SCATTERBRAIN

Photo credit: Atom Splitter PR

Brian Burkheiser, formerly of I Prevail, released a new Taylor Swift cover, "Look What You Made Me Do" that rivals well-known cover "Blank Space" under his new project Scatterbrain. 

Burkheiser has said that the new release "really resonates with [him] and serves as a nod to what first sparked [his] career." There are also pointed references to his former band in the accompanying music video: there's an RIAA plaque for achieving platinum status with "Blank Space", Burkheiser walking down the red carpet, and a tour bus leaving him behind.

Musically, the song starts off foreboding, almost eerie, brings in an "oh oh oh" and a pulsing beat and then an assertive guitar and drum combination kick in. Then the vocals quiet to a whisper only to be screamed "look what you just made me do!" later. Burkheiser and the screamer, Pinknoise, show some serious vocal prowess as this is how the song is structured. There is also a heavenly couple of notes toward the end of the song on the word "do". Overall, the song traffics in the raw emotion that Burkheiser indicates is a goal of Scatterbrain's.

The song is faithful to the original but Scatterbrain puts his own rock spin on it, not unlike what I Prevail did with "Blank Space".

Scatterbrain has an interesting Spotify bio as well: intentions for genre bending music, mental health awareness, reinvention and raw emotion are all mentioned. On releasing original music, he has said: "[he's] working toward the day [he] can release [his] original music" but for now, it's good to get some art out into the world.

This song will be your new obsession even if you don't like Taylor Swift.

Find Scatterbrain on Instagram and TikTok.