Bad Omens’ massive single, “Just Pretend”, is going viral on both Spotify + TikTok

It’s been a HUGE last 12 months or so for Bad Omens. Ever since the band started rolling out new singles from their album The Death Of Peace Of Mind, their third full-length album, they’ve embarked on major support tours with the likes of Underoath and played major festivals. The entire time, they’ve gained a rapidly expanding fanbase, and have seen their upcoming USA headlining tour nearly sold-out before it even starts.

Musically, the album is familiar to older fans of the band, but also includes more overt pop and electronic influences. The record isn’t without its heavier moments, but even songs like “Artificial Suicide” are filled with massive pop hooks that not many vocalists could pull together – unless you’re Noah Sebastian, that is.

“Just Pretend” is also one of the biggest songs off the record, and despite not being released as a single until August, has racked up some pretty big statistics. In fact, it’s now reached the Spotify Viral 50 in the USA. Just based on Spotify statistics, it’s the third-most popular song on the album (at over 11 million streams), and unsurprisingly, the recent uptick in the song’s stats are due partially to the song exploding – where else? – on TikTok.

You really shouldn’t be all that surprised to hear that, though. Just like Bring Me The Horizon, Knocked Loose, The Plot In You, and countless other bands in the scene, the extremely popular video app has given life to songs both old and new.

words cannot describe how much I love just pretend by bad omens pic.twitter.com/Ls3ALHdS41

— kate (@KatIineMichelle) October 22, 2022

The song (also, like others that experience an uptick in popularity) tend to see other sources of traffic. A big one is reaction channels, mainly on YouTube. Considering that there’s plenty of unknown bands that will happily donate money to see a hugely-subbed YT channel react to one of their songs, it’s not a surprise that this is the case. And in the case of “Just Pretend”, the lyrics are almost universally relatable – most of us have been on the brink of a relationship that you know is crashing and burning. Wondering where you stand, wanting to know how long you’ll be waiting, and whether it’ll all even be worth it.