Now, I try not to focus exclusively on viral internet songs, but this one grew on me. Yungatita, the LA musician behind everyone’s favorite TikTok-serial-killer-slideshow song, has created a sleeper hit with “7 Weeks & 3 Days.” Released on their EP Over You in 2020, the song started gaining traction after an initial post in September of 2021 plugging the song online. It exploded in the late summer becoming the background noise to TikToks of pensive thoughts, regrets, posts yearning for understanding, and general angst. Various playlists on Spotify have song lyrics for the title, such as “When we met I just knew that I already loved you” and “All my friends say fuck you but I can’t even help but love you.” Bottom line? We love this song.

There’s something to be said about the project, which is written, sung, and produced by Valentina Zapata (with the exception of one song, “Indie Dream Boy” co-written with bandmate Ernie Gutierrez). The playing is imperfect - human. The recording steers towards lo-fi and is simple, sincere, grainy, making it stand out from the rest of the EP. When Zapata sings, they don’t chew on their vowels like many of their contemporaries - no “oiesss” or “aiied” or “uaiiiss” to be heard, a trend in music that genuinely kills me. Zapata sings casually, sadly, and sweetly. There is no bullshit. The songwriting, which is simple without being bland, expresses remorse and confusion with relatable lyrics that appeal to the heartbroken. It’s an earworm for sure, what with the driving melody that is the backbone of the song and lyrics that are easy to sing along to.

“7 Weeks & 3 Days” is undeniably catchy and unearths the doting sad-girl in me. I unabashedly relate to the moody posts and playlists, and I love Yungatita for it. I deeply admire the song’s organic journey, where it all came down to being liked and shared, in true DIY spirit. The song will inevitably get bigger, which it deserves, and I will sit here at home waiting for them to come back to my city (which I regretfully missed out on in 2022). See you someday, Yungatita!