CUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us)

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Fan album
TitleCUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us)
Fandom(s)My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Composer(s)Vylet Pony
Date(s)July 30, 2021
Type(s)Studio
Medium(s)Digital
External link(s)Bandcamp, Spotify, Genius Lyrics
CUTIEMARKS Album Cover.jpg
Related articles on Fanlore.

CUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us) is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan album released by Vylet Pony on July 30, 2021. It is a concept album that explores the lives of My Little Pony characters, as well as Vylet's own life experiences. The album focuses heavily on themes of being LGBT and neurodivergent. Musically, the album can be best described as a mix between Hyperpop and various other genres of Electronic music, with some elements from other genres.[1] The album's trailer was posted on March 26, 2021. [2]

Track listing

  1. THE THINGS THAT BIND US (feat. CalamariSpider)
  2. CUTIEMARKS (feat. Chi Chi)
  3. BONNIE
  4. ANTONYMPH
  5. LESBIAN PONIES WITH WEAPONS
  6. SYNDICATE
  7. WAYFARER
  8. I DON'T NEED TO BE FIXED
  9. PROTAGONIST SYNDROME
  10. ISOMETRICA
  11. NONEXISTENT MEET-CUTE [IDLYAM]
  12. ATYCHIPHOBIA (feat. TCB)
  13. HARPER (feat. GalaxySquid & AstroEden)
  14. HOW TO KILL A MONSTER
  15. IMITATION GAME
  16. HONEYMOON PHASE [LIMERANCE]
  17. THE CITY OF THE SILENT
  18. 37.6486° N, 122.4296° W [SEABOUND] (ft. Sylver Stripe)
  19. THE KID WHO KEPT RUNNING

Credits

  • Production, vocals, mixing and mastering - Zelda Trixie Lulamoon (Vylet Pony)
  • Track 1 narrated & co-written by Kai (CalamariSpider)
  • Track 2 vocals by Chi Chi
  • Track 4 co-written by Voreburger, AstroEden, CalamariSpider & Sylver Strype
  • Track 10 samples "Souls of Fire" by Sylver Stripe
  • Track 12 originally written by TCB, reimagined by Vylet Pony
  • Track 13 vocals by GalaxySquid & AstroEden
  • Track 18 samples an unreleased song by Vylet Pony & Sylver Stripe
  • Album cover illustrated by Nekosnicker
  • Booklet & song cover artwork illustrated by Nekosnicker, Mataschmata, CassettePunk, Another Pony Artist, Opossum Stuff & Vylet Pony

Backstory & meaning

"CUTIEMARKS" was conceptualized based on a conversation I had with Kai, who narrated — in short — their thoughts that had inspired the album.

From the album's Bandcamp page.[3]

Vylet has been very open about the backstory of this album and the meanings of each song, particularly on Twitter and YouTube.

Shortly after I had a few demos, I came into this conversation with my friend, Kai. We talked a lot about existentialism and philosophy, particularly with relation to “purpose” in MLP:FiM. They opened up me so much about their frustrations with how limiting the concept of a “one true purpose” felt. We talked about how cutie marks felt arbitrary and restrictive, reducing the personality of someone to one singular thing. I asked them to record themselves rambling about what they had said previously. They sent me a 30 minute file that I worked down to 3-ish minutes and it became the basis for the album. The point of contention that both Kai and I explored was with regards to how cutie marks felt so eerily controlling and unrealistic (which is ironic to observe about a series that pertains to magical talking horses, but really it’s a thought experiment.)

Vylet's YouTube channel[4]

Almost every song uses a sample from a song she and some friends recorded as a joke when they were young kids. The sample, which simply says "Sing a song about life", has become a recognizable slogan of sorts for the album and a major part of Vylet's branding.

Reception

CUTIEMARKS was met initially with excellent reception, even from fandom outsiders, originally having its average RYM rating above 4 stars. However, this dropped after review bombing, although more people who initially avoided the album for its fandom connection later gave it a chance and gave it good reviews. As of November 2021, it has an average rating of 3.12.

A gigantic explosion of self-acceptance through fighting back against systems trying to tell you that you and what you are feeling are wrong and not real, embracing the things you loved in your teenage years and were always too scared to fully embrace and coming to terms with yourself being not perfect and always on the search. Filtered through an eclectic mix of colorful musical styles ranging from Pop Rock to Brostep to EDM to D'n'B, Ambient and a dash of Metal, the result is... you know, I could talk about this album really professionally and highbrow but the matter of fact is that this album immediately struck a chord with me in how it deals with its themes given how similar a lot of my own experiences in my life were. There is no chance in hell I can talk about this album "objectively" in any way, and that's fine. It's an eclectic mess of genres held together by amazing songwriting and production and top notch performances, and that chaos is the reason that it resonates so hard with me. Flawed, instinctive, unashamedly alive and in love with being a human, Cutiemarks is an album that has struck a chord with many a queer person already, and will do that to more of them in the future. It balances hyperspecificity with universality wonderfully, making for an extremely whacked out, lovable experience that can resonate with a lot of people who have gone through similar situations. Sing a song about life. Someone will listen.

RateYourMusic user Hurricanslash

Cutiemarks is a conceptual power fantasy that has bridged the My Little Pony in-group with adjacent out-groups such as LGBTQIA+ community, furries and electronic music fans of the less streetwise kind. The sound palette is made up of Vylet Pony's contemporary take on very specific Renard-esque electronics along with extremely layered multi-instrumentalism, reminiscent of post-chiptune Anamanaguchi, Chipzel or MisfitChris, as well as more mainstream sounds like Porter Robinson. Despite a heavy emphasis on the in-group hyperfixations and borderline-deceitful acceptance of the MLP community, which leaves the artist relying mostly on their own judgement about whether the music is praised for personal reasons or actually good, this album is actually very good. In that sense, Vylet Pony is among the elite musicians of the MLP fandom.

RateYourMusic user villewannabe

I was honestly expecting to give this album around 3 stars as I find a lot of music that is directed to a specific fandom to be lacking in substance for those not included. That is not the case for the music here. There is plenty for those in the know to catch onto without being intrusive to the themes of most songs. There are still a few that are definitely going to appeal more to the fandom than those outside but those are the minority on this album. You get a lot of variety in each song with my only real gripe being a few songs with parts that I feel are out of place or go on a bit too long. Other than that it is definitely worth a listen for anyone interested.

RateYourMusic user WhatTheHotDog

Impossibly sweet and immensely welcoming, the latest album from Portland musician Vylet Pony contains some of the sunniest and honest music of her career. While the album suffers from extreme bloat over its 74 minutes, there's enough to love here to keep you engaged throughout.

RateYourMusic user lurien

A beautiful, colorful display of unabashed queerness and love for all things MLP. I have no attachment to this show (I've seen maybe 2 episodes) but something about this albums shameless embrace of fandom and even cringe culture made me actually emotional. It makes me feel valid in the things I love. Fuck what other people think, like what you like, live your life doing what you love. As long as you aren't hurting others, of course.

RateYourMusic user darklink20001

CUTIEMARKS is a fandom-based, 77-minute, multifaceted romp through the emotions of a queer person just trying to live. In that sense, it is an important and valuable listen to many queer people, including myself, and furthermore ascertains its importance with its catchy sensibilities and heart-wrenching songwriting. There is no other album that quite captures the emotions of modern queer identity quite like it, and it will be looked back at the very least with fond memories by those who embrace it.

Catfish Bone's review[5]

RateYourMusic charts incident

When the album first came out, it peaked at the number one spot on RateYourMusic's yearly album charts[6], briefly dethroning the previous top rated album for the year, Cavalcade by black midi. Because of this, many users reviewbombed the album for its LGBT themes and fandom roots, and it quickly fell down the charts. As of November 2021, it is still in the top 1000 albums for 2021 on the site, sitting at #629.[1]

There's also the elephant in the room that I must address right away. Starting on August the 3rd, 2021, CUTIEMARKS became the top rated album of 2021 on RYM's charts. It then started getting negative rate bombed by people who were disgusted with the My Little Pony subject matter of this album, some of whom admitted that they have no intention to listen to CUTIEMARKS whatsoever. My other motivation for writing this review is just that I want to do my part in helping to counteract the rate bombing by giving my honest thoughts about this album which I have listened to and I love.

RateYourMusic user CoolMorgan

Fanart

The album has recieved a significant amount of fanart, especially based on the character Fluttgirshy from ANTONYMPH, who is a version of Fluttershy as a scene kid wearing a hoodie of GIR from Invader ZIM. Fluttgirshy has become somewhat of the album's mascot and represents going against cringe culture and enjoying your interests without shame.

  • Fanart of ANTONYMPH by ututane on Tumblr

  • Fanart of BONNIE by Moozua

External Links

References

  1. ^ a b Cutiemarks (And the Things That Bind Us, RateYourMusic. (Accessed November 4, 2021)
  2. ^ (ALBUM TRAILER) CUTIEMARKS (and the things that bind us) / Epilepsy Warning, YouTube. Uploaded March 26, 2021. (Accessed November 4, 2021)
  3. ^ CUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us - Vylet Pony, Bandcamp. (Accessed November 4, 2021)
  4. ^ THE THINGS THAT BIND US, YouTube. Uploaded July 29, 2021. (Accessed November 4, 2021)
  5. ^ Review: Vylet Pony's "CUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us)", Catfish Bone. Posted July 31, 2021. (Accessed November 4, 2021)
  6. ^ The charts have been updated. @VyletPony - 'Cutiemarks (And the Things That Bind Us)' debuts at #1 in the top albums of 2021., @sonemic on Twitter. Posted August 3, 2021. (Accessed November 4, 2021)
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