What You Want To Hear

This kinetic track was released in 2021 but dates back to 2017, when Sub-Radio frontman Adam Bradley started working on the lyric. He told Songfacts the story behind it: "'What You Want To Hear' is my best effort at making sense of how I've been feeling for the past few years: like I'm losing my mind, but also that I have a lot to give to other people who might be hurting worse. When I started the lyrics in 2017, the first year of the Trump presidency, it felt like all my friends were 'broken' in some way. How do you handle that? I can be a terrible pessimist personally, but sometimes the way to take care of someone is just to give them good news. Just tell them what they want to hear. So there's really a lot of optimism in the song; 'water in the middle of the desert,' 'we're bigger than the fear.' But the bridge makes everything a little complicated, which I like. It's kind of struggling with the idea that maybe 'what you want to hear' is a good salve, but it doesn't really solve the underlying problems. That might take more than kind words."

Sub-Radio is a six-member indie-pop group from Washington, DC. They released their first EP, Thoughts Lights Colors Sounds, in 2020, and spent that year building a following through livestreaming. "What You Want To Hear" was their first single following the EP, released in February 2021.

The music video is an homage to their Reddit following, with the band performing from their livestreaming setup, but with array of scenes and costume changes.