Exist Yesterday.

Sky Ferreira’s video for “Everything Is Embarrassing” reminds me most of Azealia Banks’ “212” — it’s not remotely the instant classic that that was, but the aesthetics are similar: black and white, tight closeups, lots of eye contact with the camera. But unlike Banks, her lips never spread in a smile; she mouths the lyrics with lips painted dark in the shape traditionally called “pouting,” staring into the camera as though daring you to have a response. The unembarrassed crudity of some responses was predictable; my own discomfort with the forced intimacy of her gaze might only reflect on me (I found the “212” closeups discomfiting too), but it’s hard for me to understand how anyone could experience it as a come-on rather than subtly confrontational and intentionally awkward. And of course as a guy who gets nervous around pretty women I can’t help feeling as though I’m supposed to be abashed, experiencing the song and the video as interiority rather than an exterior display. Everything is embarrassing, including my fumbling about with these words.