Heartbreak can leave a scar that truly never goes away. We learn from our previous relationships and some experiences never leave you. There’s two different perspectives to heartbreak: the doer and the receiver. Regardless of which end you’re on, it still hurts. “How To Break A Heart” by Indi Star is a guide on how to be a heartbreaker, from someone who's gotten their heart broken many times before.
The first verse starts with “Borderline superstition/ Is it real, or is it fiction?” which is asking if the love is actually pure or is it a fantasy that all hopeless romantics strive for? Fiction isn’t real, and oftentimes we create fiction in our heads to dream about the endless possibilities we envision for ourselves. “You’re a mess/ I’m a big fan” is acknowledging the person may be bad for them, but the desire to “fix” them is too strong which makes you want them more. The chase is always more thrilling and once the game starts, it’s too hard to go back shown by the lyric “You’re a high that I’m chasing”
The chorus “What if I told you I wanted you more than anything/ Would you be mine?” is the beginning stages of the cycle where it lures you in. If she says all the nice things that the other person wants to hear, will that bring them together? “What if I told you that you and I are a forever thing/ Would you be mine?” is a common line when you’re in a relationship, you think about your future with that person and believe you’ll be together forever. Words hold power, if someone said these things and didn’t truly mean it, it shouldn’t be said in the first place because it can really mess with a person. She then asks if she’s their everything, questioning if the other person actually cares about her. “What if I told you, like really told you about everything/ Would you run and hide?” shows that she is scared. She is scared if she opens up then the other person might leave.
The second verse gets personal. She sings “Am I just like your mother?/ Pretty eyes, ugly problems”. Yikes. Behind pretty eyes, there’s always a deeper story to be told, which shows that you never know someone’s full story, only what they want us to see. “If I lie it’s protection/ A familiar affection” now switches the perspective and changes my view of the whole song. Lying in this case could mean anything, but if she lies she’s protecting herself and shielding her own heart from heartbreak.
The bridge “This is how to break a heart/ I know how it ends/ Cause this is how it starts” ties love and fear together. It’s almost like she is convincing herself she is capable of breaking someone’s heart because of how many times she’s been heartbroken. “I’m back again at heartbreak station” is the start to the last verse. She’s going to the next stop to find love and when she locks eyes with a stranger she’s starting the cycle all over again.
I love the production of this song. Produced by Gustav Landell, Emelie Walcott, and Fanny Hultman; “How To Break A Heart” is a reverse break up song where we dive into the heartbreaker's point of view and way of thinking. It shows that love and heartbreak are intertwined in a cycle that eventually repeats itself, making it predictable. The stylistic choices of this song were very interesting, especially the introduction. The whisper layered tracks that seem buried in the mix is such a great way to grab the listener’s attention. It’s whimsical. Indi’s singing is almost conversational. She changes her pitch between the verses, but even when she sings with a higher pitch she’s just as powerful. The production was upbeat, and there were a lot of moving parts but the beat was the most prominent. At the end of the song, the tone shifts and the upbeat elements of the song suddenly stop, but it is a nice way to wrap up the song.
Indi Star is a rising pop star from Boston, but is now based in Los Angeles. She’s always been involved with music at a young age, and was thirteen when she released her first single. She grew up working in the entertainment industry as a dancer and a actress. She’s known for her roles on “Henry Danger” and “Dead To Me”. She was also in the children’s pop music group Kidz Bop. She has over 65,000 monthly listeners on Spotify with her song “Too Good For You” amassing 157,470 streams. “How To Break A Heart” is a single off her latest album release “eMotion Sick”. Indi is an internet sensation with 1.3M on TikTok and 1.1M on Instagram. Don’t break Indi’s heart, check it out and give it a listen!
Written By Alexa LaMalfa
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