The opening track “All U Need” begins with the intriguing choice of a round of applause, accompanied with audio tones that echo phone ringtones. This song would definitely fit well on a chill or relaxation playlist. It doesn’t try too hard – it doesn’t have to – the encompassing, silky vocals drew me in immediately. The vocalist states “there is nothing more I can be” whilst a funky bass lightly plays in the background. It’s soulfully brilliant and evokes tones of vulnerability with ease.

“Dead” is up next, and while it is musically similar to the first track it is brilliant enough to stand its own. I get imagery of slow dancing when I listen to this song, you could also tell it would work really well when performed in a small, intimate setting. “Don’t make me act like this” and “I’m on my toes when you call” help the admirable and quirky musical elements along, I could easily relate to the song without even trying.

“Blue Interlude”, perhaps aptly named as it is one of the middle songs, has the same relaxing tones and flows on nicely from “Dead”. Haunting vocals of “ooh” open the song and my initial reaction is that the sounds remind me of an old, familiar piano bar. It is soothing and the arrangements are tender enough to really lift the already great lyrics.

Next up is “Grown Lil Boys”. The flowing bass is captivating alongside the lyrics, “You’re so beautiful, you’re ugly”, which perhaps contains a message stronger than just one song. The vocals are confident, and my favourite part is when the song almost appears to be ending, fades, then comes back full force with alien sounding instrumentals. It is perhaps the stand out track of the E.P., you wouldn’t expect it to work but it really does.

“Fence” is an intriguing title, and my initial thoughts assume it will be about someone sitting on the fence in a situation. There is again a lot of technological noise on this track, with seemingly endless vocal effects that you can’t expect, drawing you in every few seconds.

The E.P. ends with “etc.” which I very much like as a title, as you can’t generally make any misconceptions about it. There are a lot of sudden pauses in this song, which can be jarring at first, but it soon becomes a fun addition. The vocals flow up and down easily, my favourite line is “I’m too tired for sleeping”, which is somewhat similar to the lyric I referenced about being so beautiful that you become ugly.

Overall this was an unexpected, good listen as I am not familiar with the genres this work of art encompasses. It definitely would fit well on any of your relaxation playlists.

Words Emma Stevens