Tucson-based artist The Manor Born consumes with an introspective EP in see you next year, blending early-2000s indie-rock sensibilities with post-punk revival energy. Tracks like “too late too bad” and “good goals” navigate personal reckoning and reflection, pairing jangly guitars with thoughtful, sometimes cathartic lyricism. From dreamy, slacker-rock tones on “leaves” to the symphonic swells of the title track, the EP presents a riveting listening experience.
Commencing the EP, “too late too bad” builds with enjoyable momentum from dreamy guitar jangling into a rousing rock buzz. The crisp vocals emerge as the more understated guitar elements re-emerge, then ascending into a hazy tonal soaring past the one-minute turn. “I never needed you, I just did it to appease,” the vocals admit thereafter, lyrically coming to a reckoning with personal decision-making — referencing “a trail of regret and time” in the process. The ensuing “good goals” rides on a bouncier rhythmic pulse, conjuring a post-punk and rock synergy, which paired with the debonair vocal tone reminds fondly of Interpol amidst the “drowning in the moat” hook, especially.
Another highlight comes via “leaves,” exuding an introspective allure in the “never amounts to anything” commiserations and “life is tiring, tired of living it” slacker-rock precisions. Then arrives the EP’s beautiful title track, enamoring in its trickling guitar work and delightfully lush first half, while swells of symphonic-like grandiosity linger into the conclusion. EP finale “slang for drugs” is another gem, closing it all out with shimmering guitar strums and appreciative lyrics — declaring “no more peaks and valleys for me” with a sense of triumphant catharsis, following a long and winding personal journey, as the stirring EP comes to a close.
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“too late too bad” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
