CRISIS KID
Corbin
The Big Issue Australia
Issue #7369 May 2025
By Olivia J. Bennett
Over a decade and 13 million views since his genre-defying breakout ‘Without You’, Corbin (formerly Spooky Black) still lingers in the murky middle ground of alt-R&B heartbreak. Crisis Kid picks up where his shy ballads left off, tracing an alliterative spiral of nihilism—’Cry Out in Pain’, ‘Curse of Creation’, ‘Clown on a Stage’. ‘Carbon Monoxide’ is the standout, driven by a bouncier bassline and a nimble drumbeat courtesy of long-time collaborator Psymun. Corbin’s voice cuts through the haze: “You can see all the walls I put up caving in / Slowly creep in my lungs, you're my carcinogen.” It’s a rare moment of urgency on a record otherwise steeped in slow, grey collapse. Elsewhere, “Comedy Divine” turns the gaze outward, teasing clarity from a contradiction: “Why do we pay for the sins of evil men? / Nobody wins when we self-destruct.” A faint, flickering guitar line keeps it just shy of despair. Corbin’s world is dimly lit and emotionally maxed out. But maybe that’s the point—it’s music for when the feelings are there, but the energy to explain them isn’t.