PROTAGONIST, the sophomore album by Eliza Spear, is a fitting one: the story may be hers, but anyone can imagine themselves in the role of the hero when they listen. Where other songwriters might settle for easy cliches, she reaches instead for the sorts of vulnerable truths that can bridge the divide between her and the listener. Her melodies have a way of drawing you in: first low and conversational, like a friend offering secrets into your ear, then soaring and triumphant, calling you to follow on the journey she’s started. 

All of PROTAGONIST stems from a particularly intense period of her life, and she interweaves them into a song cycle of sorts: an image or idea introduced on one track might surface again on another, given complex new resonance by its shifted surroundings and the passage of time.

The album is full of gleaming synthesizers, body-moving drum machine rhythms, and hooks big enough to shout in a stadium. Where some songwriters might sacrifice subtlety in favor of such big-tent appeal, Spear has retained all the writerly nuance of her earlier work and then some. She combines the intimacy of the singer-songwriter canon with the immediacy of the best pop.

Spear is fond of presenting her music in unconventional spaces where she can forge more powerful connections with listeners than the typical divide between artist and audience allows. The Protagonist Project, a concept created by Spear, invites curious passersby to experience the lost art of live music discovery through private, three-minute concerts in unexpected venues. Her weekly blog, An Artist’s Blog on Substack, is on the brutal and stunning truths that come with being an artist today. Spear brings listeners behind the scenes into a more intimate look at her setbacks and triumphs, all the while encouraging listeners to dig deeper into their own. 

The Protagonist Festival Series represents perhaps the largest of the album’s spin-off ventures. Happening monthly in diverse art spaces across New York, the festival features an eclectic mix of songwriters, poets, comics, and street vendors, all curated to reflect the same themes of truth, growth, and resilience that shape the album. A fierce advocate for both in-person experiences and the depth long-form content can offer in an era dominated by short-form consumption, Spear shares the stage with artists from all walks of life. These mini-festivals, marketed through affirmations placed around the city encouraging people to see themselves as protagonists, blend just the right amount of excitement to thrill a traveler while staying rooted in the album's ethos—grief that is vast enough to be set in an arena yet intimate enough to bring people together. 

Lighthouse

Bikini Season

andover

Softer Kinder

The Songwriter

Find Someone Else

Caustic Remembrance (Battle Theme.IV)

Merit - Protagonist | Jul 25. 2025

deltarune's megalovania
took lots of inspiration from homestuck

visualizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-yBDrek0EU

PROTAGONIST SYNDROME

Antagonist Vs. Protagonist

I stare through cracks in my broken crown,
Dust on the throne, and I can’t sit down.
I prayed for light in a world gone dim,
But the silence roared from deep within.
These hands were made to build, not break,
But all I touch now feels like a mistake.
I beg the night for a little peace...
But the devil in me, he won’t release.

Look at you — cryin’, weak on your knees,
I thrive in the pain while you beg for peace.
I built this throne from spit and fire,
You just watch while I take it higher!
Burn it down, let the ash fall slow,
Feed the rage — let the poison flow.
You want redemption? That ship sailed.
I am the king — you always failed.

[Protagonist] I just want to breathe, let the storm be still...
[Antagonist] Nah, feel that heat, let your blood get spilled.
[Protagonist]  I was never born to rule by force...
[Antagonist] Then die, little prince — I’ll stay the course.

Whispers left and right.
One mind. Two voices. A throne built on sand.
I’m just tryna make it right…
But I’m cursed by the fire from my own two hands.
Every step I take, I hear him call —
The part of me that wants it all.
A war inside I can't withstand…
Two kings fighting for a throne of sand.

[Protagonist] I used to dream in color and sky...
[Antagonist]  I dream in vengeance and watch 'em die.
[Protagonist]  Love was a lantern, warm and bright...
[Antagonist] Now it's fuel for the fire at night.
[Protagonist]  I still believe there's light to claim...
[Antagonist] Say that again and I’ll burn your name.
[Protagonist]  I’ll stand and bleed if I must break free…
[Antagonist] You’ll die alone — 
[Protagonist] you’ll never be me.

“I hear him in every silence,
every scream I never gave.
He lives in the shadows…
of every choice I made.”

Whispers left and right.
One mind. Two voices. A throne built on sand.
I’m just tryna make it right…
But I’m cursed by the fire from my own two hands.
Every step I take, I hear him call —
The part of me that wants it all.
A war inside I can't withstand…
Two kings fighting for a throne of sand.

Dust & Steel

A Throne of Sand

Throne of sand(HD)

DO NOT APPROCH ME WITH PROMOTIONS!
https://soundcloud.com/rplayin/roaches-sick-of-scammers
HOPELESS ROMANTIC. STREET-BORN. SOUL-WRITTEN.
I don’t write songs. I live them.
Every verse bleeds. Every bar breathes. Every line carries truth.
I don’t chase clout. I craft emotion.
My words have weight — they lift, they break, they heal.
This is lyrical fire. This is emotional depth. This is rplayin.
Welcome to my world.
Where rhythm speaks what the heart can’t say.
Where nothing is off-limits — not the pain, not the passion, not the past.
Let the words play.
Let the feelings in.
Search “rplayin” and feel the story.

PROTAGONIST, the title of the latest album by Eliza Spear, is a fitting one: the story may be hers, but anyone can imagine themselves in the role of the hero when they listen. Where other songwriters might settle for easy cliches, she reaches instead for the sorts of vulnerable truths that can bridge the divide between her and the listener. Her melodies have a way of drawing you in: first low and conversational, like a friend offering secrets into your ear, then soaring and triumphant, calling you to follow on the journey she’s started. Her music, at its core, is about seeing yourself in someone else’s struggles and aspirations, turning lived details into anthems to which anyone can relate. 

In the case of “Lucky Lucy,” a standout from her 2022 debut full-length Right Now, It’s Like This, that might mean striking up a conversation with a stranger at a bar just because you both have freckles. From that seemingly insignificant similarity, Spear weaves a surprising and richly emotional love story, with a twist ending too poignant to spoil in writing. That first album, set to warm acoustic instrumentation with sleek pop accents, was an ideal introduction to Spear’s work, drawing a wide range of themes and experiences into a coherent but multifaceted whole.

For Protagonist, she took a more deliberately focused approach. All of the lyrics stem from a particularly intense period of her life, and she interweaves them into a song cycle of sorts: an image or idea introduced on one track might surface again on another, given complex new resonance by its shifted surroundings and the passage of time. She also honed her sound, opting this time for a palette of gleaming synthesizers, body-moving drum machine rhythms, and hooks big enough to shout along on the dancefloor or from behind the wheel of your car. Where some songwriters might sacrifice subtlety in favor of such big-tent appeal, Spear has retained all the writerly nuance of her earlier work and then some. Like two of her heroes, Carole King and Taylor Swift, she combines the intimacy of the singer-songwriter canon with the immediacy of the best pop. 

Since moving from her Los Angeles hometown to New York, Spear has been a tireless performer. Though she’s played plenty of shows in traditional venues, she is fond of presenting her music in unconventional spaces, where she can forge more powerful connections with listeners than the dichotomy of artist and audience allows. In 2020, when pandemic restrictions made old-fashioned concerts impossible, she went on tour across the backyards of America, giving socially distanced shows for small groups in the outdoor spaces of their homes. She expected to be on the road for two weeks, but word started to spread: one backyard show led to another, and she ended up touring all summer. Sometimes, she’ll set up a door frame on the sidewalk of her Brooklyn neighborhood and invite passersby to step through and “become the protagonist,” turning the conceptual heart of her work into a literal journey through space. Or you might find her in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with a box of donuts, making new fans by offering a delicious pastry to anyone who’s willing to sit and listen to her music. Such adventures, one gets the sense, are borne of the same inspiration that leads Spear to write songs in the first place: to meet people where they are, and enrich their lives by sharing a piece of her own. 

Listen to Protagonist, and you might just wonder if she’s singing about you.

- A conformist is the biggest deviator to individual purpose -

Dyadic - (Collective Tracks (01.&02.)·:X https://open.spotify.com/album/24pfDDpdX5frjVuwuXTDQm?si=wyDHNHosTO6Jc6XHkUTfQw

New tracks tagged #protagonist