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elmundodeflor · 2 years

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Hiii! This is my secret snowman fic for the lovely Sal! @ssoullessbeing

I hope you enjoy ittt! ❤️❤️

Writing this was so much funnn (english is not my first languague, so pls bare with grammar mistakes lmao), I had the best timee😀

Merry Merry Christmass! 🌲❄️✨

TIME

Freshly brewed tea rested on the coffee table besides them, a bittersweet aroma filling the warm summer air.

They were at the back of Kenny's old car repair shop, punk music blasting on the speakers while Levi worked.

"Aren't you gonna miss school?", Hanji asked, sprawled on the couch, gaze fixed on the crusty crumbling ceiling above. It was the very last week before the semester started. The very last week before the whole future unraveled uncertain ahead of them.

Levi shrugged, tightening up the bandana on his head; a few loose strands of hair still covering his eyes.

"Why would I?", he protested, unamused, sitting on the couch's armrests. "I never liked anybody from school anyways."

Hanji sighed.

"What about me?", she teased cheekily, playful. Levi rolled his eyes, making her laugh. "Don't you like me?"

"You're a pain in the ass", he answered, short and dry. Hanji laughed even louder. They were best friends after all. Had been their whole lives.

"Well, you still hang out with me, so...", she poked at him, a bright knowing smile spread across her features.

Levi grunted. They had spent the last three months like that, having nonesense conversations, munching over cold leftover pizza while going through Kenny's collection of vintage rock cassettes. It was far from perfect, he wanted to tell himself. Still, he wouldn't change a single thing about it, even if he could.

"You don't leave me with much of an option either, four eyes.", he pointed out. Hanji frowned, throwing him a dusty pillow from the floor.

"Ugh, you're no fun!", she pouted; the pillow a blink away from dropping both tea cups from the table.

Levi couldn't help but smirk a little, getting up from the couch back to the toolbox scattered open on the messy desk.

"Well, you still hang out with me, so...", he teased back, peeking at Hanji over his shoulder. The afternoon sunrays softened her expression, painting her a pretty light sheen of goldens and yellows. Her hair was kept untamed in her half ponytail; a melancholic smile suddenly adorning her lips.

"I'm gonna miss school, actually.", she admited with a sigh, sadness creeping abruptly through her voice.

Levi nodded. He was going to miss school too, as unwilling as he was to face it. He wanted to stop time from running, to freeze it right then and there in Hanji's crazy loud laugh, in the annoyingly pounding music, in the imperfect sight of Kenny's sloppy car repair shop. He had once heard that time healed everything. Now he was unsure of it, however.

"I know", he whispered. Hanji sat up from her spot on the couch and patted on the empty fluffed cushion besides her. The setting sun shone through her wide eyes, inviting.

"Don't think you'll be able to get rid of me that easily, short stuff.", she chuckled, humorless. "I'm a pain in the ass after all, remember?"

Levi nodded once more, unable to talk through the tight knot squeezing down his throat. Time kept ticking on the clock, summer escaping from his grip just like water slipping inevitably from his fingers.

Tick, Tock.

He exhaled, dropping himself weightless back on the couch, right next to Hanji. She was a pain in the ass, indeed. Still, he wouldn't change a damn thing about her.

Even if he could.

That was it. The last night of summer vacations. The very last one before Hanji went away to a college right across the state.

They were at the beach, watching the waves splash and crash along the shore; the lulling sound of the running water as soft as the unspoken words floating between them.

"Hey, Levi.", Hanji called, her voice low and muffled by the ocean's ever-changing melody. "What are you gonna do when I leave?"

He shrugged. He had no idea, to be quite honest. He was still indecesive, torn between studying psychology or going for an English major, both worlds apart from the other.

"I guess I'll figure it out.", he sighed, in an almost painful attempt to convince himself. Kenny had offered him to work part tlme at his car repair shop and, for the time being, that seemed like a good enough plan.

Hanji looked at him with a shy smile. The pale dim moonlight traced his delicate features, the warm breeze ruffling his dark hair.

"I can't believe it's finally here...", she whispered. "That I'm actually going..."

Levi held in a deep breath; his mind racing, clouded by the uncertainty of a hundred questions with no answer.

"This has always been your dream, four eyes.", he offered. They had talked about this a million times before, when they knew the inevitable would eventually catch up to them. Paradis was a beautiful island, that was for sure, but Hanji wanted more. "Aren't you happy you're out to explore the world?"

She nodded, still unable to look away from him. Her heart ached at the sight.

"I'm just... gonna miss this view, you know?", she exhaled. Levi was now staring at her, too; their gazes intertwined for a moment too long, filled with an untold truth.

"Yeah, the view here is not bad at all...", he agreed, tucking a lose strand of hair behind her ear. Hanji closed her eyes, giving in to the tenderness of the fleeting touch. Levi was closer than ever, so close their noses were almost rubbing. So close she could feel his heated skin burning against hers.

"It's gonna be weird not having your grumpy ass around anymore", she laughed, barely audible, her lips slightly ghosting over his.

Levi swallowed thickly, nervous. He had no idea what they were doing, but he didn't want it to end. He didn't want to let go. Not now, not ever. Hanji was going away and that was the only factualty he could hold on to. After that, there were no more second chances. No more do-overs.

"Are you ever gonna call?", he asked, bitterness evident in his tone. Hanji pulled herself back, only to rest her head on his shoulder. Waves kept crumbling and crashing before them, time desperately ticking and ticking on the clock, fateful and unstoppable.

"Of course I will, dumbass!", she joked. "Told you you weren't going to get rid of me that easily, remember?"

Levi nodded again, his fearful heart eased at the hopeful promise.

"Remember", he repeated, in another painful attempt to reassure himself, to keep the questions hushed, tucked away if only for once.

Hanji chuckled, content, nuzzling in the intimacy of their bodies pressed together, side by side. The fading stars splattered across the night the only witnesses of their silent goodbye.

"Wish we could stay like this a little longer, tho...", she admited. Levi exhaled sharply. Time was running out, merciless.

He was going to miss school. And their nights at the beach. But most of all he was going to miss her.

He was going to miss Hanji. So damn much.

The yellow light from the lamp casted long dark shadows over the tool-filled walls. Kenny had chosen a chilled-out snobbish indie casette to listen to, and it was nice for a change.

They were at the back of his already closed car repair shop, work day long dead and gone. Half finished pizza was left cold on the opened cardboard box, gold beer bubbling inside Kenny's glass.

"Tell me, Levi.", he said, taking a sip. "What's going on with you?"

He grunted, throwing the pizza's burnt end back into the box.

"Nothing", he lied. It had been six weeks since he had last seen Hanji. Two weeks since he had last seen Erwin, Mike and Nanaba, too. They had all gone to different universities, and yet there he was, stuck stocking screws and washers. He felt lonely, scared it was going to last forever. "I'm fine."

Kenny snorted, in evident disbilief. He knew his nephew well enough to tell when something was off.

"Oh, you sure are stubborn, kiddo.", he mocked. "You've been taking extra shifts in this shithole for the last month and a half and you think I wouldn't notice?"

Levi blinked, suddenly caught off guard.

"Notice what?", he asked.

Kenny let out a long tired sigh.

"It's about that girl, isn't it?", he raised an eyebrow in question; his voice suddenly lowering, serious and somber. "It's pretty obvious you've got it down bad for her, if you ask me..."

Levi held in his breath for a second.

"Well, I didn't ask you.", he cut him off short. Kenny laughed, loudly and genuine this time, far from getting offended.

"I was just saying!", he defended himself, lifting both his arms up, playing along. "I just couldn't help but see the way you look at her, you know...?"

Levi hissed in compaint, utterly pissed and confused. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"I don't look at her in any way.", he claimed, in complete denial. How could he? It was Hanji. Just Hanji. Wasn't she? "She's my best friend."

Kenny rolled his eyes, adjusting his usual ragged cowboy hat on his head.

"I don't think so, kiddo..." he exhaled, barely above a whisper. "Best friends don't look at eachother like that."

Levi swallowed thickly, nervous. The weight of the words sank heavy in his heart, and he let them. He let them tear him apart, rip him in two, crash him into pieces; memories of him and Hanji flashing through his eyes, burning vividly on his skin.

He remembered hot afternoons drinking lemonade together, sitting on his windowsill. He remembered her infectious smile when she came to him with a new topic of conversation. He remembered their almost-kiss that last night at the beach. He remembered. Could it possibly be true...?

He knew the answer. He had known it already for quite a while.

It was still too late now, however. Time hadn't healed anything, he was sure of that. If only, it just deepened the wounds, opened them worse. Remembering Hanji wasn't going to bring her back. Time wasn't either. If only, it just seemed to push them further apart, to dig back and forth at the void engulfing him whole.

"How...?", he asked, almost rethorically. Kenny hinted a kind smile at him.

"I'm an old man, Levi.", he answered, frankly. "I know a thing or two about love."

He nodded, silent, rolling his eyes as he got up from the desk to throw the empty pizza box away, tired and ready to end the conversation.

Kenny smiled a little wider at the sight. He knew his nephew all too well, too.

"If there's anything I've learnt that I'm sure wil help you..." he said, finishing off the rest of his beer in one big gulp. "Is that you better make choices you won't regret in the long run, kiddo. We only live once, after all."

Levi understood. Understoond even if he didn't want to; his fist crumbling the pizza box apart, knuckles turning white against the cardboard. He understood. And he let the words sink heavy again.

Because maybe, after all, Hanji was his one and only regret.

Fourth floor, main hallway, second door turning left. He followed the instructions meticulously, brand new backpack hanging loosely from his shoulder.

He had spent the last three months fixing an old broken car Kenny gave him, trying to make it look and feel like it had never been used before. Now, it all came down to this: to the clasroom's number right in front of him, to that brief moment before all of the exciting chaos waiting ahead.

He took a deep breath, his foot tapping nervously over the squeeky clean floor tiles. After a whole semester, he was finally here. The countdown was over.

He looked over at the clock hanging on the wall, his stomach twisting and turning in anxious tight knots. For once, maybe, he wanted time to go faster, to finally bring them back together.

"Levi?", he heard a familiar voice call from behind. The countdown was over. Over for good.

He turned around to look at her, a small shy smile drawn on his lips.

"Hey, four eyes.", he greeted casually.

"Levi", she repeated in reassurance, running to him, crashing clumsy into his arms. It had been so long. "What the hell are you doing here?", she asked, incredulous.

He snorted, hugging them tighter and tighter. Hanji's lab instrumentations fell from her bag, scattered all over, but neither of them seemed to care.

"English major.", he replied firmrly, face burried onto her skin, pressed agaisnt her shoulder. He was starting the following year. Mealwhile, Kenny and his mom helped him get a job at a local teashop near campus.

Hanji nodded with a smile, squeezing him closer before slightly pulling away.

"I'm so happy that you're here!", she giggled, voice cheerful. "C'mon! I need to walk you around, show you what you've been missing!", she added enthusiastic, dragging him along the crowded hallway, his hand in hers.

Levi smiled, too. His eyes fixed on Hanji, then on their fingers intertwined together. His face burnt red, his heart racing inside his chest.

"As if I haven't seen half this place during all those shitty FaceTime calls, you dumbass.", he complaint. Hanji let out a loud laugh, still walking and walking.

"Well, you gotta see it again!", she exclaimed, and Levi just couldn't help but follow. Hanji had that special something about them, a type of magnetism that made everyone want to follow her, he thought. Time passed by quicker when he was with her. It had always been like that, he knew.

Only now, he wasn't worried about time as much anymore. Not that neither of them were leaving.

He sighed, content. Because maybe, after all, time did heal things.

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dirtyjiminblr · 5 years

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fame

part 1

word count; 2217

no warnings

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You had been working in the music industry for 5 years now with little success. You recorded some back-up vocals here en there but apart from that there wasn’t much. This was certainly not the big pop star life you had been dreaming off. You posted frequently on social media, uploaded music covers and attended events. The biggest thing that had happened to you was that one of the producers of Ariana Grande mistook you for a back-up dancer. Way to go. You decide to see what the world has to offer and pack up your bags to go to Seoul. This might start of your career. Everything changes when you get an email from a company called Big Hit Entertainment and they ask you to visit.

02:43

The last few days have been rough. I got the email on Wednesday and was told that they wanted to see me on Monday. But that wasn’t all, I had to prepare three selfwritten songs to perform for them and they had to be written while I was here in Korea. So here I am, Sunday night still finishing the second song. I haven’t even started the third. I look out the window of my appartment and see the city fast asleep. Two songs to go, only a few hours left before I have to perform them. I can’t screw this up, this might as well be the biggest chance I’ll ever get. After a few minutes I can feel myself dozing off. No! These songs aren’t going to write themselves.

04:01

Song number two is done after a huge writers block. The melodies just didn’t seem to work together and my lyrics sounded horrific. I tried to make it better but this was all I got. Now for te third song. I was tired and my brain was drained. How am I ever going to write a song in an hour that is going to sound good enough for a music company. I slam my head on my desk and pull my hair. I can feel my eyes tearing up.

“Pull it together, girl. You can do this.”

I look at my phone; 04:36. I have to be there at 11. If I finish this last song in two hours I can still get some sleep and look presentable enough. My loud sigh fills the room. Two hours for a three minute song with lyrics and instruments is far too short. But who says that it as to be three minutes long? I can write a short song, about two minutes maybe a bit more. I don’t need layers of melodies and multiple instruments. Just the piano and my voice. I stand up and walk to my old and crusty piano. Just one song left.

05:16

Another piece of paper makes its way to the bin. I look at my notebook and see two full sentences, a few words and one melody. Might was well give them a call and give up because this is never going to work. I stand up and walk over to my window, a habit that I have gained during songwriting. The city calms me wit hall its beautiful glory. I think about the last few days. The first song took me the longest, about 3 days. It was a good song if it were to be edited by a professional or if I had the resources. But under these circumstances I was impressed by myself. I started the second song on Friday. This one caused me a lot of trouble. Things just didn’t seem to add up and in the end I threw it all out to start over. That’s why I’m now sitting here at 5 in the morning finishing these last songs. I see the bakery down the street light up. Wait, how long haven’t I eaten? The last two days were filled with music and I haven’t taken care of myself. I walk up tot he front door, put on a coat en get my bag. Time to get out of this appartment.

05:48

The city feels cold. That might be because it’s early or because I’m wearing a legging with a coat in the middle of december. It’s probably that. I walk past the bakery and see a tiny woman kneading dough. She looks exhausted. I see my reflection in the window and think the same of myself. I put on my hood and stick my hands into my pockets. It’s a three minute walk to the banks of the river. I start humming the third song to myself and keep getting stuck at the chorus. I try again but the same thing repeats its self. I arrive at the river banks and take a seat on the concrete. I wrap my legs underneath me and take a deep breath in. Let’s think of something other than music for a second. I see a young man walking on the other side of the banks. He’s wearing a pair of jeans with just a jacket and has a cigarette inbetween his lips. He walks rapidly and turns into an alley. Seeing the cigarette made my eyes widen. I dropped the habbit ever since I left the States but seeing him makes me realise how much I miss it. I stand up and walk tot he nearest kiosk. I buy one pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As I make my way back to the river I look at the pack. The concrete is cold and harsh underneath my legs. I open the pack and take a cigarette out. I put it between my lips and light it. As the smoke hits my lungs I start to cough. After that my lungs embrace the smoke and my body welcomes it. I stay seated on the concrete and I finish my cigarette. I take out my phone.

“Fuck.”

06:30. I have to wake up in two and a half hours but I still haven’t finished this goddamn song. I jump up and speed back to my home. The city fills itself with its inhabitants. Seoul during rush hour is a nightmare that you’ll always want to avoid. But now that I had forgotten about the time it is unavoidable. You walk past the bakery once again and see that it is packed. The exhausted women looks better this time and is smilin while she is helping here customers. I, on the other hand, look even worse than before. I quicken my pace and arrive home. I trow off my coat and sit behind the piano. Just like that the song rolls out of my fingertips.

10:30

I have my third cup of coffee in my hands as I wait for my cab. I woke up at 09:30, after only two hours of sleep. I hope the concealer under my eyes will hide the tiredness and that the coffee will pull me through. Suprisingly I am feeling very confident about my music. The last song is my absolute favourite. The soft vocals with the powerfull piano sells it completely. I look to my left and see that my cab has arrived. It’s all or nothing from now on.

10:50

I thank the cab driver and open the car door. Here we are, Big Hit Entertainment. Big breath in, big breath out. Let’s do this. I enter the lobby and walk up to the women behind a big white desk.

“Goodmorning, my name is y/n and I have an appointment.”

She nods at me.

“Do you know with whom you have this appointment, dear?”

Before I can answer a man walks up to us.

“That must be me! It’s a pleasure to meet you, y/n. My name is Adam and I am a CEO here at Big Hit. ”

“Pleasure to meet you too, sir” He is a tall man with a very warm smile. Judging from his appearance, name and accent he wasn’t born here.

“Follow me. I have a room for you on the fourth floor.” Adam turns around and heads tot he elevator.

I mouth a thank you to the woman behind the desk and follow him. He doesn’t speak to me until we are at the fourth floor.

“I’m sorry if I appeared rude by not speaking to you, but I have a terrible fear of elevators. I’m a bit claustrophobic I might say.”

I smile to him. “None taken. I know what you’re talking about.”

“And this is where we’ll be seated. Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, water?”

“A glass of water would be fine, Adam.”

“Coming up!”

He speeds out the room. It almost seems like he is more nervous than me. I sit down and cross my legs. It is a beautiful office with wooden floors and white walls all around. I take out my lyrics and sheet music and lay them down on the desk. I hope they have a piano here somewhere. I take out the USB with the recordings on them and put that right in front of me. Adam enters the room and leaves the door open. He is more like very claustrophobic. He puts the water in front of me and takes a seat behind the desk.

“I need to tell you, y/n, that this is the first time I’m doing one of these interviews. Can I tell you a secret? I am very nervous about it.” He starts to chuckle like a ten year old boy who just confessed his love to his girlfriend. “As I told you my name is Adam and I am a CEO here. I originally come from the UK but decided to move here after I met my wife, who is from Seoul.” Adam continues talking nonesense about his personal life and doesn’t seem to care if I am listening or not. I get distracted by shouts in the corridor so I turn my head. Adam doesn’t seem to notice. I occasionally nod and hum to make it seem like I have some sort of interest in his story. I look out the door and see a man shooting down the corridor in a shopping cart. I frown as I see more shopping carts following the first one, all containing men. I give a confused look to Adam and he excuses himself. I hear some more shouting now with Adam’s voice in the mix. He comes back and apologises.

“I’m sorry , this tends to happen sometimes. But now on to you. I watched some of your covers online and really enjoyed them. I looked up your blog and saw that you were coming to Seoul so I immediately sent you an email. We are looking for hardworking singers and songwriters to help produce or even produce their own music. That is why I think I work so well with this company. ”

Adam really loves to talk about himself. I do the polite nod and hum once again and look out the door. I see a face coming through the frame mockingly mimicking Adam. I have to hold my laughter in.

11:30

“Adam, I really love your stories but I would also love to do what I came here to do.” I cut him off and smile.

“Oh ofcourse! Could you show me the songs?” I hand him the lyrics and sheet music of all three songs. He pretends to read them but then confesses.

“Y/n, I have now idea what this sheet music means or in what way these lyrics fit in. I would like to hear it.” I chuckle. I don’t know if this man is really dumb or that he stopped caring a long time ago.

“It’s fine. I just need a piano and an USB port.”

Adam nods and tells me to follow him. I pack my stuff and walk in the corridor. In the back is see the man standing that made those faces when Adam was talking. He winks at me and I point at Adam and roll my eyes. He laughs out loud. Adam looks at him.

“Can I help you with anything Seokjin?” The man smirks at Adam and shakes his head.

Adam turns around and the man who I now know is named Seokjin rolls his eyes at him. This time it’s me who can’t contain my laughter. Adam looks at me and i raise my eyebrows. He turns around and acts like nothing happened. We arrive at a huge room. This time with withe floors and white walls. On the biggest wall hangs a sign that says; Big Hit Entertainment. In the middle of the room is a beautiful shiny black piano.

“Or sound system is on the side and the microphones are there as well.” Adam takes a seat on a chair.

I grab a mic and plug the USB in. I secure the mic on the piano and take a seat.

“Could you press play Adam?” Adam sighs.

“I’ll do it.” A tall man with purple hair walks in the room. “Adam needs his rest these days.” He chuckles. “Just press play?” He looks at me now.

“Yeah, that will do.” I crack my knuckles and warm my voice. I look at the purple haired man and nod. He presses play.

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ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE

I’m sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I tried my hardest

This is part one of idk and it will feature all the boys but will be more jimin based

Hope you enjoy

Lots of love,

#kim namjoon #kim seokjin #park jimin #bts #fanfic #bts imagines #jimin imagine #kim taehyung #min yoongi #jungkook #hoseok

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wopcalmetacriticthings · 4 years

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Pitchfork - Greatest Hits: 2080-3020 by Ulala

Ulala

Greatest Hits: 2080-3020

56/100

Ulala, despite only having one EP to her credit, has been a polarizing figure in this industry. The fact that she’s a digital avatar of an artist who we’ve yet to really be introduced to has rubbed many the wrong way. Some see the gimmick as a messier version of what Gorillaz does, some see it as an intelligent metaphor for how digital and fake music has become. Regardless, Ulala’s career has been messy. Her EP, released toward the later half of 2019, opened to mixed to negative response from critics and quickly faded from the charts. So the announcement of her debut full length album came as something of a surprise, many thinking we wouldn’t be hearing from her again. Heading into the album with a lofty title and even loftier conceptual ambitions, we found ourselves curious for what we would find.

The album doesn’t get started on a particularly positive note. “Glockenpop” carries with it the same juvinile feel that her EP did and not for the better. The song’s melody is eerily reminicent of something you’d find on a Nick Jr. show and the production sounds just as undercooked and underwhelming. Lyrically the song feels like a draft that doesn’t really go anywhere. Conceptually speaking the song has an interesting premice about mocking herself and her own standing as a pop singer but that meaning is lost entirely within the song leaving it a sluggish opener despite it’s short runtime. “California” picks things up considerablly. Lyrically discussing the impact that polarized reception that her first work recieved, Ulala offers up something that was so desperately missing from that work: vulnerability and honesty. Production wise the song isn’t anywhere near as strong, again featuring the juvinile sound, but the lyrics and a fairly passionate vocal performance (with a memorable melody) keep the song floating. “Night Time” is a curious track that deals with social media addiction. It’s a sharp diversion from the topics and concepts that we got in the opening duo of songs, but production wise it still remains consistent. The lyrics in the verses are far surperior to the annoyingly repetative chorus, yet they don’t feel entirely purposeful due to Ulala’s bored delivery. The production is once more nothing of note and leaves the song feeling like filler way too quickly into the runtime of the album. Once more swinging into different territory, “Milk Bath” is an innudendo laden track that with production that sounds like it’s snatched straigh from Lilo and Sticth’s soundtrack and a vocal performance similar to Tones & I. The song isn’t all that sexy or really all that fun despite Ulala’s better efforts. It lands as another forettable addition to the album. The album’s current single “Dune Buggy” doesn’t improve in context of the album. The song’s melody is irritating, as are the vocals. The song really has no direction, it lumbers along making a song under 3 minutes feel like it takes forever to get through. The song feels throwaway to the highest order and it begs the question of why it was chosen as the lead.

“Walk Away” thankfully picks things up significantly. The song’s lyrics are pretty inconsequential but it’s groove, infectious melody, and nostalgic production do much to endear the song to the listener. It sticks out not just for being quality, but it also sounds nothing like what comes before it on the album which would have to be the biggest detraction from the song overall. The album takes a slide again though with “ShibuyaK”, something that feels lifted straight from her EP. As was mentioned then, there’s nothing wrong with singing in another language within an album butt the quality of the song has to back up the shift and here it doesn’t. The production is dated, too shiny for it’s own good, and once more reeks of Saturday morning kids shows. “Kimino Mikata” is total nonesense (although this seems to be on purpose) and that nonsense is used as some sort of backing for an admirable message that just doesn’t come through. The production is once more abysmally dated and ill refined and the vocals are particularly grating. “Big City” is an English-Japanese hybrid and while it’s an interesting idea, the execution leaves much to be desired. The production is, as most of the album, dated and bland. The vocals are messy, the lyricism even messier. It feels cut from the same cloth as the other lesser tracks on the album and by this point in the runtime, it’s a little too much to handle. The album closes on a solo version of Ulala’s debut single and the decision to do it alone improves the song significantly as no artist is fighting for a voice. That being said, the production is still dated and the Aaliyah and Jennie assisted lyrics leave a lot to be desired.

Ulala certainly hasn’t changed much since we first heard her EP last year. This full length work makes all of the same mistakes of that project: bad production, juvenile writing, and a real confused identity. The album feels rushed and directionless. Though there’s some interesting ideas presented in the individual songs, nothing relates to each other, nothing fits together and it leaves the album making little sense. The project does feature a handful of good songs and those songs elevate this project considerablly, but the bad songs, of which there are many, drag it down just as much. Though it is an improvement over the EP, the project still lacks a spark of genuine creativity to bring it to life. It feels like a throwaway effort and with talented names such as the attention grabbing newcomer Declan McKenna on the roster, it’s a shame something better couldn’t come out in the end.

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