Los Angeles artist bardz reveals a new chapter with his new EP, "the only way out is through," a six-track narrative of emotional rebirth that reads like a whispered confession and ends in silent catharsis. A producer known for melding indie textures to electronic soundscapes, bardz, on this project strips everything back, picking up an acoustic guitar and revisiting a tuning that would define his earliest musical memories.
Clocking in at just over 15 minutes, the EP is a straightforward but potent examination of disconnection, longing, and the slow task of self-acceptance. bardz’s rawness and vulnerability permeate each note, with cinematic swells turning intimate while hushed vocals and aching melodies channel the day’s negative energy. The title track, “the only way out is through,” functions as a building centerpiece, raw, hypnotic, gorgeously restrained, the sound of somebody looking their internal storm in the eye and walking toward it.
Another standout, “hold me close,” contains a quiet desperation veiled in tenderness. It’s an exhale, fragile and fearless in equal measure, reverberating long after the last chord has dissipated. Rooted in his custom atmospheric production but heightened by newly found emotional clarity, bardz mirrors the listener’s story through healing. Nobody makes music to impress you or to impress the pants off of you without first trying to reach you, and there’s no reason on earth bardz’s music should impress the pants off of you except to get you. In a dark, devastating world where the only way out is through, bardz invites listeners to his most intimate work yet and reminds us that sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is keep going.
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