Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Schultz drops their new EP, entitled It Bends Until It Breaks, via Trailing Twelve Records.
Talking about the EP, Schultz says, “This was the first time I was able to record my songs in a studio and work with other musicians, and I think that this EP is an important milestone in my development as a producer, songwriter, and composer.”
They go on, “The songs on ‘It Bends Until It Breaks’ were written during a period in my life where I struggled heavily with depression, anxiety, and negative self-perception. Songwriting was a way for me to make sense of my feelings and understand how my perspective was being influenced by my mental health, and I think that shows up in different ways throughout the EP. My songs often subconsciously end up being letters to myself, observing shifting dynamics with the people I love and posing questions about why I choose to make certain decisions and navigate my life the way that I do.”
Produced by Annie Schultz, mixed by Annie Schultz and Eros Faulk, who also handled mastering, It Bends Until It Breaks features the talents of Annie Schultz (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Robin Carmosino (guitar), Rees Chamberlain (bass) Peter Connelly (drums), and Eros Faulk (violin}.
Encompassing five tracks, the EP begins with “Repetition,” a song capturing the feeling of being caught in a cycle of handing off and giving in. A low-slung acoustic guitar accompanies Schultz’s lusciously soft vocals, revealing hints of aching melancholy and wistful regret.
A personal favorite, the title track drifts, and sways gently, evoking introspective emotions, as Schultz’s haunting voice imbues the lyrics with the visceral complexity of vulnerability. It’s a voice that can make you fall to your knees and weep.
“Love is the law, burning and flawed / Lighting the fire under you / Nobody moves when secrets are loose / Shut it down before it tells on you.”
Schultz displays their lyrical gift on “Patterns:” “Good intentions made her cry / Love runs thin / He thought he really tried … The wound that always scars / In places no one sees.”
Another gem, “Waiting,” ties the EP off. At once raw and lo-fi, clanging percussion and a grumbling bassline give the rhythm a slow teeter-tottering cadence, providing the perfect milieu for Schultz’s sad, revelatory vocals, simultaneously intuitive and heavily invested in the approaching titanic emotional ruins.
With It Bends Until It Breaks, Annie Schultz offers up one of the best EPs of the year – innovative, evocative, and oh-so superb.