Lizzy Land’s debut project plays anxiety off of lush synth-pop, turning her self-doubt into a meditation.
intro music plays, the new six-track EP from the Portland native, gives plenty of room for the cathartic release of anxiety, with a sound that’s warm but slow in its embrace. The video for “Messed Up,” one of the EP’s first singles, imagines Land confronting a figure with a mirror for a face, reflecting her own angst back to her. intro music plays gives greater detail about that confrontation, allowing Land’s vocals and writing to settle into the tranquil synths. The tracks yearn for connection as easily as they second-guess themselves, developing scaled-down character over the project’s brief runtime.
“Messed Up” and “Losing My Head” both grapple with feeling lost, but the EP gains the most traction when Land turns her songs into tragically one-sided conversations. “Sweet Melodies” finds freeing joy in losing yourself in another person, where Land’s desire becomes explicit rather than abstract, while “Call Me” plays with distance and the loneliness that comes when a friend leaves her life. The relationships on intro music plays focus on what voids love and happiness can fill, making the tracks about isolation and worrying that much clearer. “Bad Things,” the closer, brings that juxtaposition to a head, a heavy and self-aware plea to a toxic lover.
Land runs head-on into the paralysis of anxiety and the fear of what sadness the future might bring, with clear eyes and a soft sound. It’s a gentle approach, and she makes the most of it on intro music plays, an intimate and pensive pop debut that speaks of big things to come.
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