Genre: Soft Pop
Girl in the mirror introduces herself as a self-releasing Budapest-based track-maker, vocalist, coffee lover & firm believer in broken clocks that are right twice a day. She began with producing happy EDM but experimented with many genres over time. Nowadays she makes softer tunes. “Backpack” was produced in collaboration with her boyfriend flwrs., while some other vocalists jumped on a couple of songs as well. flwrs. is an indigenous producer from South Dakota, currently based in Oklahoma. He blends hip-hop, pop and orchestral elements in his songs and has released four albums and many singles since 2012 when he first discovered music producing. He is a self-taught producer, learning from the internet and from friends. He loves cats and wants to bring home every cat he meets.
Let’s listen to the EP and see what they offer:
The first track is “I don’t want to go” and it features Two:22 and leorinda, a Chinese/Vietnamese vocalist-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. A love-hate relationship is described with smooth pop vocals and sad lyrics. The lyrics and melodies are complete opposites, the production sounds happy and bubbly but the words are talking about people who misunderstand each other and are suffering in a not so happy relationship. It is always interesting when songwriters approach their writing with this contradiction in mind which gives the songs a unique sad-happy atmosphere.
“You and I” continues with another relationship, this time a happy one that has different struggles, more specifically the issue of distance. Long-distance couples don’t see each other as often as they would like to, and being so far away for so long is hard on relationships sometimes. This song, however, is from the perspective of two characters who still love each other very much, and no matter the spatial difference, they keep waiting for each other. The words that pop into my mind when trying to describe the production are: cute, soft, video-game-like and heartwarming.
“Staring to the Sea of Wishes” is the third track, and according to the artists, it was born on the border of lockdown and freedom. We all can agree that the first few weeks of lockdowns were quite disheartening and demotivating. Reading and seeing bad news one after the other, experiencing people’s indifference to others’ sufferings and not knowing what is coming next took a toll on a lot of people’s mental health. In a time where half the world is burning, half flooding with water, half flooding with plastic and so on, there is a need for songs that help you stay motivated and hopeful. What is the thing that keeps us going forward through hard times and what would you ask for if you would find the Sea of Wishes? – these are just some of the questions the song arises. kim saesol features on this one.
Track 4 and 5 are the same, but in different languages: “Butterfly Light” and “Lepkefeny” . As someone who understands both I have to admit that I like the Hungarian version better, and after I first heard both, I was sure that it was the one written first. Later when I received the press release, this feeling was proven to be correct. Right off the bat I have to say that the vocal melodies of this song are my favourite out of all and I also believe it has the most complex lyrics filled with a lot of subtlety and vulnerability. The words were written by poet Fanni Sütő and are about a blossoming summer romance when nothing is certain yet but the other person seems perfect in every way and you are wondering if whatever this is can have a future. The English version features leorinda.
The last track, “Neighbourhood puppy”, was released a year prior, when they did not know that there is going to be a finished EP. This is what the artists said about the song: “A cute song about how Sam met a puppy on the streets of New York City. Well, he had to sing about it because the puppy was so cute.” And what can I say to that? It is a cute song and who doesn’t like a happy neighbourhood puppy?
Overall, “Backpack EP is a sweet pop romance made of cute bubbly synths and soft sine waves, guitars and smooth vocals”. If you like soft pop and cute songs, do check it out:
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