Singer/songwriter Francis Karel laments love’s devastating nature on the buoyant “I Don’t Like How Much I Like You,” a dazzling, heartfelt upheaval of intimate emotion.
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“I Don’t Like How Much I Like You” – Francis Karel
I’m losing myself… I know if I don’t act now somebody will; I know if I don’t run we’ll be standing still…
Sometimes our hearts can feel too much: Whether we’re “in like” or “in love,” attraction can overwhelm a body to the point where it becomes all-consuming: A drain on our mental and physical health. We often talk about the power of love being magical or miraculous, but the other side to that perspective is that it’s also not always our choice: Feelings like this have been known to surprise us from time to time, coming out of the blue at the most inopportune moments. Singer/songwriter Francis Karel laments love’s devastating, hurts-so-good nature on the buoyant “I Don’t Like How Much I Like You,” a dazzling, heartfelt upheaval of intimate emotion.
It’s a radiant reckoning between the head and the heart – a beautiful journey we’re happy to embark on time and again.
You caught me off guard
You flipped the switch
Found a missing piece
With a different fit
Really thought I had you solved
Till you changed the game
Caught me off guard
And I’m okay with it
Keep my phone near my bed case you call me
You’re in my head almost always
Tugging on my strings, know it’s gonna sting
Overthinking up til the morning
You should’ve come with a warning
I won’t get no sleep til I come clean
Independently released November 18, 2021, ” I Don’t Like How Much I Like You” arrives on the heels of October’s cinematic offering “Another” as Francis Karel’s fourth single of 2021. It’s a dramatic overhaul of inner turbulence that finds the fast-rising 23-year-old doing what he does best: Blending catchy music with cathartic emotions.
Hailing from Jakarta, Indonesia and now based full time in Los Angeles, Karel released his first songs in 2018 and 2019, and began putting out music on a more regular basis this year. The past few years have seen him garner a massive fan base on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, the latter of which boasts a dizzying 2.2 million followers.
Karel’s posts, all of which are readily available to watch, showcase his range, his lyrical creativity, and sheer vocal strength (among other things), so perhaps it should come as no surprise that his studio recordings would be elevated to an even higher level of pop sophistication.
For an artist just getting out into the public spotlight, Karel’s music is stunningly polished and impressively finessed – the result of raw talent and years of hard work. Each of his songs, from the soaring “Fall” to the groovy, sweet “You’re Too Close” (his highest streamed song to date, with over 5.4 million Spotify streams) is an irresistible outpouring from his soul to our ears. Sonically and lyrically, Karel can be likened to Noah Kahan and Ed Sheeran – two artists that pour themselves into their work, unapologetically.
“I Don’t Like How Much I Like You” says it all in the title: Karel’s latest is a stripped-away expression of the self. With a bright guitar at his side, the artist sings about the power love seems to have over him, and how he’s fallen victim to its grasp: “You caught me off guard, you flipped the switch,” he tells his love interest, later going on to quip, “You should’ve come with a warning…“
One gets the sense that love has both elated and deflated our narrator as his emotions spill into a passionate chorus:
I don’t wish this on anyone else
Cause it hurts so good I’m losing myself
I know if I don’t act now somebody will
I know if I don’t run we’ll be standing still
I don’t like
I don’t like how much I like you
I don’t like how much I….
“I’m not usually one to catch feelings for another, so it really catches me off guard when I end up feeling for someone,” Karel tells Atwood Magazine. “It puts me in a place of confusion and frustration, and although it can be a nice feeling, sometimes I wish I didn’t have to feel any of it. So to sum it all up, I ended up writing about how ‘I Don’t Like How Much I Like You.'”
Drunk with friends
November night
When I got cold
We got too close and went inside
Did you feel what I felt
Were you just being nice
Confused as hell
But I don’t mind
Keep my phone near my bed case you call me
You’re in my head almost always
Tugging on my strings, know it’s gonna sting
Overthinking up til the morning
You should’ve come with a warning
I won’t get no sleep til I come clean
Love hits Karel like a wrecking ball in this song, and while there’s the potential to build something beautiful and wondrous, here the artist feels out of breath and just a bit dazed. It’s not that he regrets his feelings, but rather, he just wishes they didn’t hurt so much; that they didn’t consume him the way they do. The power of love compels him; attraction is a magical thing, but it doesn’t have to be the only thing in our lives. Hence, we come to the easily digestible, instantly memorable phrase “I Don’t Like How Much I Like You,” which really does say it all in those eight simple words.
I don’t wish this on anyone else,
Cause it hurts so good I’m losing myself
I know if I don’t act now somebody will
I know if I don’t run we’ll be standing still
I don’t like
I don’t like how much I like you
I don’t like how much I….
Like…you
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“I Don’t Like How Much I Like You” – Francis Karel
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