On October 30th, Canadian indie pop artist Jeen released her most recent EP, For the Romance. Combining confessional pop, acoustic, and lo-fi tracks, the singer and songwriter’s eighth major solo project is both all we feel and all we do “for the romance.”
Jeen uses every second of her new EP to portray a vulnerable city-girl sound, perfectly coinciding with recent hits by Lana Del Rey and Chappell Roan. “Look What You Did” is a lively yet somber disco tune that inspires movement and windows-down driving. The singer’s emotional lines like “every night, I hope to God you hear me calling” take listeners back to their own experiences with the hope and grief of lost love.
She darkens her sound for the following track “Psychedelic Silver Lining” which, true to its name, uses emotively overbearing drumbeats and raw vocals so invoke the feeling of going out with friends to forget about a bad situation. Her lyrics here are some of the best on the EP, writing lines like “No I ain’t ready/ hold me steady/ It’s too heavy” and singing them with fitting intensity.
The EP uses its title track as its midpoint, shifting sounds once again, this time to something much lighter, with a truer pop tone. “For the Romance” tells stories of all the times that Jeen has done something stupid for love. In addition to its sound, the lyrics of “For the Romance” are lighter than the previous tracks, describing finding “true beauty” and “feeling alright” after leaving those behaviors behind in favor of living life on her terms.
“Baltimore” takes on a dreamy vocal distortion, making the track at home in a late-night bedroom dance party trying to forget whatever feelings are plaguing you. At the beginning of the track, the lines “it’s getting loud out there/ but you never shut the whole thing off/ if you ever want to fall in love/ tell me who you’re thinking of” captivate completely. As the song continues, its background sirens give it that city feel that Jeen establishes so heavily in this record. Repeated lines like “you can go wherever you like” and Jeen’s pristine vocal harmonizations make for an almost hypnotic listening experience.
Jeen closes her recent EP with a cover of Labi Siffre’s iconic 1971 track “Bless the Telephone.” She sings the song with the stripped-down clarity of both an experienced musician and an experienced listener and advice giver. The track speaks directly to its audience, saying “strange how a phone call can change your day/ take you away/ away from a feeling of being alone.” The track is the perfect emotional closer for an EP about endings, beginnings, and all of the learning and yearning that comes with them.
Stream Jeen’s new EP, For the Romance, here:
