In a world that often demands silence from those in pain, Ryan Cassata is refusing to stay quiet. With his latest single “i feel like throwing up” (released April 23 via Kill Rock Stars), the genre-defying singer songwriter peels back the curtain on chronic illness, emotional isolation, and the haunting loneliness of being stuck in a body that won’t cooperate.
The track, a standout from Cassata’s forthcoming album Greetings from Echo Park (dropping June 6), was written during a time when the artist was homebound, undergoing IV treatments and daily doctor visits for Lyme disease coinfections and a mysterious autoimmune illness. Cassata describes the experience as “missing invite after invite” and watching life pass by through a screen. That gut level sense of alienation becomes the heart of the song, a sonic snapshot of what it feels like to be left behind, both physically and emotionally.
Produced in collaboration with Mark Pelli of MAGIC!, “i feel like throwing up” blends raw, emo adjacent lyricism with Cassata’s folk punk roots. The result is a stripped down yet emotionally loaded soundscape, carrying echoes of The Mountain Goats and Frank Turner while carving out a voice distinctly his own. The title may sound visceral, and it is, but beneath the shock lies something quieter, a deep and unspoken grief for the life that chronic illness interrupts.
The music video, equally powerful, amplifies the song’s emotional weight by spotlighting trans youth actors. Their presence is no accident. “The video is about systemic loneliness, something that trans people and sick people are often made to feel,” says Cassata. “I wanted to show that kind of invisible loneliness, but also the connection that can come from sharing it.” In doing so, he is making space for visibility, representation, and solidarity, a consistent thread throughout his entire body of work.
Cassata, who has been hailed by Billboard as “a true force in the industry,” has long woven activism into his music. With “i feel like throwing up” he takes that ethos to new depths, not through anthemic protest but through the quiet resilience of survival.
https://ryancassata.bandcamp.com/album/greetings-from-echo-park
As part of his debut LP with Kill Rock Stars, the track sets the tone for Greetings from Echo Park, an album that spans from pop punk catharsis to bluesy ballads, tackling transphobia, anxiety, illness, love, and defiance. In “i feel like throwing up”, Cassata doesn’t just tell you how it feels, he makes you feel it too. Greetings from Echo Park is due out on June 6th and is available for pre-order on bandcamp. Thanks for supporting artists!
