Indie-pop artist LEEPA releases her new EP, entitled brain freeze, via Columbia Music. Blending elements of pop, rock, and R&B with hints of hip-hop and grunge, brain freeze is simultaneously innovative and faintly nostalgic, as well as superlative.
Speaking about the EP, LEEPA shares, “The EP turned out to be a collection of a bunch of different topics and sounds which kind of made me feel like I was brain freezing. It’s kind of eclectic and odd but at the same time it makes total sense: like always with me, there’s a lot of sense in what shouldn’t make sense.”
With more than 181,000 monthly Spotify listeners, LEEPA has amassed over 6.5 million streams and been featured in elite outlets. LEEPA exploded on the scene in the middle of the pandemic, releasing “I’m sorry, are you” and “switch places,” both of which went viral on TikTok, while also collecting millions of streams on Spotify.
Since then, she’s performed at Climate Live and Fridays for Future, along with sharing the stage with Milky Chance.
Encompassing six tracks, highlights on brain freeze include “blood,” opening on low-slung, sing-song guitars flowing into an expansive, resonant pop melody on the chorus, which teems with glowing harmonies fronted by LEEPA’s angst-filled vocals.
“future” travels on an evocative piano, offering pensive flavors. As the rhythm enters, washes of lustrous R&B and electro-pop merge to form a deliciously redolent tune topped by LEEPA’s lush voice. While “live with myself” reveals the range and edgy melancholy of LEEPA’s superb voice, imbuing the lyrics with gentle, tender timbres, at once subtle and charismatic.
The final track, “second firsts” begins slow and low, and then ramps up to a galvanizing amalgamation of rock and pop, creating a dynamic tune brimming with captivating get-up-and-go as LEEPA struts the power and allure of her voice, letting it all loose. Because of the song’s electrifying elan and LEEPA’s potent, crème de la crème vocals, “second firsts” might be the best track on an excellent EP.
With brain freeze, LEEPA demonstrates her vocal gift, alternating between sorrow-laced tones, warm melodicism, and vibrant pop savors.