Last week, the singer-producer Amaria dropped her long-awaited debut EP Bittersweet. This marks Amaria’s first full-length project following a variety of singles scattered throughout the past two years. 'The Spins' co-host Marty Gross analyzes Bittersweet in the fifth edition of Last Week in Music.
Let's start easy. After listening to the EP for a solid week, what is your favorite song on the project?
On this new EP, three singles had already been released and four new songs debuted on the 18th. Even though four fantastic new songs came out, I still have to choose the closer of the album, “Roses.” Each vocal chord produced is filled with immense pain and passion that almost sounds like a magnum opus, a swan song to leave a crushing finale to the EP. On sections of the track like the chorus, the emotion is so vivid in her voice that it is almost as if she is being pricked with the very thorn of the roses she is talking about. This vocal performance on top of the deep and bruising bass chords and the flavorful closing guitar solo wraps this song together in a perilous, red scarlet-covered bow.
We have finally gotten a taste of a full-length project from Amaria. Did you notice a stylistic change in this EP compared to her singles?
Almost every single song that Amaria has created has been about some sort of relationship or love encounter, so it was no surprise that it was the theme of the album. The stylistic change that I noticed while listening was the slowed pacing of each song and how she really dialed in on the “lows” of love rather than the highs. Even though her discography is mostly about the struggles of love, she reached into the depths of her heart when making this EP. Whether it's questioning the bizarre grey area of the friend zone in “Friendzone” or the desire to leave a significant other and not knowing why in “Running Away,” the pains of love are soaked into this album.
Does Bittersweet fit for the name of this album?
Most definitely. Even though I mentioned before how Amaria focuses on the lows, there still is a bittersweetness to this album. Love can be a scary and complex experience, and Amaria explores this to the fullest extent. The bittersweetness is not the pain in her voice, but the growth that is impending after this feeling. Even though Amaria is struggling in these moments, she is becoming stronger and finding herself more and more after these hardships. Growing pains are the best way to describe it.
This EP features a plethora of moods intertwined with each other. If you could be in one location in the world while listening to this EP, where would it be and why?
I feel like the perfect atmosphere for this EP is the coast of Fiji while a subtle drizzle taps beneath your feet. A calm wind hits your face as you stare out into the beautiful crashing waves.
What would you rate the EP out of 10?
7.5.
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