hello folks! today we’re rounding out the current MISSIO releases by checking out their three 2023 EPs, I Am Sad, I Am High, and I Am Awesome!
I Am Sad is the first of the 2023 EP’s – this release’s songs are mostly slower, quieter, or mellower, with lyrical focus on, expectedly, sadness. I’m Sad and I Can’t Speak is a spacey, quiet opener with some interesting distortion on the backing instrumentals, and Read Your Mind works in a similar space but with a more conventional style and a more interpersonal source of sadness. I Don’t Like It When You’re Lonely continues that trend, blossoming into nice swell halfway through, tho the autotuning feels out of place more than anything. What Can You Say switches it up, and is driven by an acoustic guitar and Brue’s vocals – i think this is the most successful song on the EP, for me, even for being such a large stylistic departure. Ring Ting is bad. i dont like it at all. Monsters (Inside of Us) musically takes another 180 – the piano part here is harmonic and delicate, and the vocals here evoke a lotta melodramatic ballads, so its odd when the swell of the track brings back the heavy autotune on the vocals. odd way to round it out with those two tracks after What Can You Say.
I Am Sad – 4/10
I Am High is the second release, and the throughline here is getting high on marijuana. damn shame i didnt get this out on 4/20. missed opportunity. Good Vibrations is an immediate step back into more familiar territory, with the use of synths and drums – very nice song. really enjoyed this one. Easy’s fine – an extremely laid back love song of sorts. the run from Thang Thang to Papi Chulo are all misses for me. did not enjoy listening to any of the tracks – Thang Thang was just not good, Big Stacks guns for a different aesthetic that i also dont like, and Papi Chulo nearly sticks the landing but just doesnt work for me. I’m Coming Home tries to bring things together, but man its kinda hard to do something this serious after that last 3 track run.
I Am High – 3/10
I Am Awesome begins with Not My Fault, a track whose chorus rises to a kinda tongue in cheek anti-love song anthemic “its not me its you”. Heart Made of Dynamite and Goodbye to the Old Me – very self- critical, given the EP’s title and how straightforwardly theyve been interpreted so far. Making Me Nervous is p fun. Run Away is an interesring closer for sure – leans harder into the “am i doing awesome?” vibes some of the rest of the release is giving off.
I Am Awesome – 4/10
i think, on the whole, these were fine. ive seen other artists try to put out triple back to back releases and let them bloat, so its nice to see something a little tighter here, but stylistically i just cant really get into em.
faves – Good Vibrations
dislikes –
i’ll be taking off for next week’s Monday review, but will be back the week after to begin some catch-up for other artists we’ve done discography reviews on in the past, that have put out new music since we last looked at them. see y’all then!
beginning: Loner | previous: Villain | next: who knows!