Yung Kai’s debut album, “stay with the ocean, i’ll find you,” explores themes of love, longing and emotional connection. Yung Kai has consistently produced fan-favorite music, but the release of his new album just emphasized the vulnerability he is trying to capture: yearning for someone who feels just out of reach.

Yung Kai’s popularity all started with his viral hit “blue,” which accumulated over 658 million streams and earned him more than 13.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. While “blue” introduced audiences to his soft and gentle voice, this album demonstrates why he is such a popular artist.

This album has many standout songs, with three in particular being “i hope my cat loves me,” “beach song” and “how do you dance?” As much as listeners love the song “blue” — it has been a national headline for a while now — it is refreshing to see Yung Kai put out more beautifully written songs that touch the listener.

The track “i hope my cat loves me” is about longing for a gentle, nonjudgmental love. Throughout the song, Yung Kai emphasizes that even if a romantic interest doesn’t love him, his cat always will. The song expresses a yearning for a love that is simple, constant and safe, just like a cat’s affection.

The duet, “beach song,” a collaboration between Yung Kai and up-and-coming artist asumuh, explores memory and distance. The beach imagery emphasizes a symbolic space between the past and present, where all memories are to be found. The setting portrayed harkens to possible emotional distance from a partner and a longing to remember past happiness and memories. It becomes a space associated with the past and missing somebody deeply.

Overall, this song evokes memories of a group of friends on the beach, playing games and watching the waves together, and hoping to experience those times again.

The last standout and fan favorite out of the three is “how do you dance?” Many interpret the title metaphorically, as if it asks how one moves through life, love or loss. It’s a very intimate song asking about not just what someone does, but how they exist. With lyrics like “Felt your lips when I close my eyes / I know we’re out of time,” Yung Kai expresses the meaning of this song and the idea that even though a relationship is long gone, he still wants to love them.

This song is relatable not just because of its meaning, but because of its reflective tone. The beat makes it both heartbreaking and danceable, helping it become a trending song on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

As a whole, “stay with the ocean, i’ll find you” is a message from Yung Kai to his audience about the emotions of love and yearning for somebody else in your life. He’s a rising star and will continue to gain traction as more people get the chance to enjoy his music. The album reminds listeners that love, even though it may be uncertain, can still feel infinite.

Rating: 5/5