Review: "I'm crying (in a cool way)" - Emily O’Neal
- Taylor Sheridan Lempke
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Emily O'Neal's tears fall with a splash of sarcasm and sparkle in her latest single, "I'm crying (in a cool way)." She teases puffy red eyes as a makeup trend and the strange spectrum of suffering when there's money in her pocket. "Give you the dollar in my wallet, I do my part/I'm a bummer stunner/Can't you see my life is so hard?" O'Neal playfully points at the irony, crying while she takes so much for granted. It's the moments we find ourselves upset after work, even though we're wearing Adidas sneakers (and waiting on our paycheck). Yet, her lyrics don't come from a place of judgment. O'Neal never invalidates the broken relationships, rejection letters, or coffee stains in your favorite shirt. She has the timing of a best friend who knows when to crack a joke during the breakdown. O'Neal sings, "Don't you know that I'm the owner of this house/ And I built all the bricks that I complain about." Underneath it all, there's a sense of gratitude. So Emily O'Neal flaunts her sadness like a Swarovski necklace.
"I'm crying (in a cool way)" turns a pounding heart into a source of adrenaline. The drums hit like slamming your bedroom door after a stressful day (whether it's a difficult encounter in customer service or the question you forgot on the midterm). It opens with an Olivia Rodrigo Guts bass, and the drama buzzes in every vibration. The arpeggio adds this feeling of ascension–that euphoria after crying. The cyclical pattern favors this emotional rollercoaster, from breaking down to second-guessing herself to letting go and laughing. Lead synths sparkle like those small glimmers in tears. Autotune-filtered vocals add a confetti-pop of celebration over her voice, intentional like PinkPanthress's music. You'll be smiling like the 2026 gold medalist Alysa Liu on the ice, free-flowing and happy. O'Neal ties the same knot between the ropes of struggle and liveliness. Beaming through the falls and failures on the way to the top, there's glamor.
Emily O'Neal finds herself in music with the same celebratory power that she uses to find coolness in each teardrop. She started piano lessons at age 6, voice lessons at age 10, and writing at age 13. After listening to Taylor Swift’s 1989, her passion for songwriting was clear. She moved from her hometown, Starke, Florida, to Nashville, Tennessee. Since then, she has opened for pop singer Olivia O'Brien, played a sold-out show at the Bluebird Cafe, and was a 2021 John Lennon Scholarship winner for her single “Paint Me.” You can check out her debut album Bird’s Eye View and her recent singles, using the links below.
Written By Taylor Sheridan Lempke
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