Vinayvvs' Carti-Esque EP Grapples With The Hollow Nature Of Modern Happiness
The slow-living era didn’t appear out of nowhere — it’s the comedown after a generation who lived too fast. If you were anywhere near the 2010s party scene, you know what I mean. Life was a blur of late nights, thumping bass, and bottomless drinks. Nights ended in smudged eyeliner, half-remembered hook-ups, and a sense of purpose tied to how far gone you could get. It was the great escape that stood at the crossroads of hedonism and nihilism.
Vinayvvs, the Mumbai-born, London-based artist taps into the emotional epicenter of that era on his third EP, '(con)Temporary Happiness', capturing the fleeting highs, the post-party void, and the intoxicating puzzle of craving things that leave you emptier. Over seven tracks, he dissects modern indulgence, but instead of a critical lens, he leans into it and reveals the hollowness of its core.
The overall sound of the EP is menacing, filled with distortion, echo, and reverse effects. Vinayvvs’ mumble-ish vocal delivery in both Hindi and English is heavily modulated, shifting the focus away from the lyrics and toward the trippy, immersive impact of the music. It’s deeply atmospheric, refreshingly dissonant, and charged with an electric ambience. The production assimilates a whirlwind of sounds into something that feels like a transmission from a distant point in spacetime. It is disorienting, cinematic and reflects its message of a slow spiral into chaos.
Lyrically, (con)Temporary Happiness is a fun contradiction. The title alone is a clever double take — ‘[con]temporary happiness’ as both a scam and something fleeting. Vinayvvs calls out the very things he indulges in: money, women, validation, substances in the opening track. He knows these things don’t fix anything, but he chases them anyway. Tracks two through seven live in that paradox. The lyrics get more shallow, intentionally so, mirroring the culture he critiques, celebrating excess while quietly questioning it. If happiness is tied to what you want, and what you want is never enough, is happiness just greed beneath the mask?
Vinayvvs has a strong visual aesthetic that is reminiscent of Opiumcore, popularized by Playboi Carti. It's characterized by dark, often gothic-inspired fashion, blending streetwear, avant-garde haute couture, and punk influences. The style also incorporates symbolism like vampirism, crosses, pentagons, and a general air of mystery and darkness. In the EP, the same horror turns existential, questioning the temptations of the world and manifests as a sound that's heavy, hypnotic, and hazy; reflecting the surreal highs and inevitable crashes that come with chasing illusions.
Follow Vinayvvs here and listen to the EP below:
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