hey, nothing – 33° (EP Review)

“Hey, nothing” is what some of you may say when you text an ex and then regret it once they respond, but it is also the name of a rising Atlanta-based emo-folk duo comprising of Tyler and  Harlow. The young band have recently come out with their new EP called 33°, which is a 5 song special filled with complex emotions about being stuck between the horrors of your past and the anxieties of your future.  

Tyler and Harlow are clearly writing from a place in their heart that appreciates being from where they are from as they like to mention the cold weather of Atlanta a lot throughout their songs, specifically starting this EP with Sick Dogs.

Sick Dogs emulates the panic of not knowing the right thing to say with the almost nervous and questioning lyrics which is generally spread through the whole EP. This song shows the anxieties of once being known by somebody who doesn’t know you anymore; you were once known wholly and now you don’t know whether it’s even okay to speak to them anymore. Once again with the idea of texting an ex and then regretting it; their band name perfectly captures the vibe of their music. It’s almost overwhelming in the way every lyric is framed as a question, you begin to question everything you’ve ever done mid-song. It’s a pretty upbeat song during the lyrical breaks, and yet the lyrics are depressing and pessimistic, until the end where there is a hopeful tone shift. 

Next up in the EP is a gem called Barn Nursery which is an authentic and truthful song that feels like we are getting a snippet of their souls woven through the melodies; they have problems with moving on. Then it goes on to If It’s Not, which brings the idea of how naivety comes with being young and how naivety can make you uncertain about everything. 

This is carried on through 33° which presents anxieties about not knowing what your future could hold but still being naive about it. Can the same problem happen twice? You would assume so if you were a pessimist and I simply have to assume that these artists are the peak of pessimism. But the fact that their lyrics imply that the ice can’t crack twice implies that they are naive and adolescent in their ways of thinking about bad things that could happen. However,  with Death Song, this EP ends on a pretty positive and hopeful note considering everything. 

The instruments feel nostalgic to me for a time and place that I didn’t experience; they take me back to the early 2000s and the rise of midwest emo music and drinking beer you took from your dads’ collection in the basement with your friends. 

Overall, this EP is filled with ideas of being stuck in time, not being able to travel back to return to how things were before but also waiting for the same person from your past which is preventing you from moving forward into the future. In their lyrics, there is a person who is willing to change themselves for someone, at least to some extent. They perhaps grew up too soon and are stuck in a horrible place between childhood and incapability of moving on from 

bad people and bad things that have happened. So, they are stuck at this metaphorical ‘red light’ that is brought up in multiple of the songs in this EP. This EP is not one to listen to if you want to feel happy; it is a sad and pessimistic collection of music with themes of anxiety and self-doubt. 

SCORE/ GOOD: If you’d like to feel like you are a delinquent teen boy in a dingy basement drinking with your friends, look no further than this album. It’s full of concepts of anxiety about being uncertain and being stuck in the same place, not able to go back, but also not being able to move on and move forward. Although, I will say that some of their songs can feel repetitive of each other, but in my opinion, that doesn’t take away their ability to make you feel.

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