Full disclosure: “The Tension” was my first introduction to Hotel Garuda, so I didn’t come into the EP with any expectations around his previous work (beyond skipping through a few old festival sets on SoundCloud). I can’t say much about how different it may feel, but I can say that Hotel Garuda sounds incredibly comfortable in his music – which excites me as both a writer and a newer fan. Pulling together different production elements, Hotel Garuda plays around with sound in a way that shows a newfound love for songwriting, ranging from poppy synths to roaring guitars to easy harmonies. Each track creates moments of tension that rise and fall in dynamics throughout the EP, most notably in “Rush” when the track takes a total left turn at 2:17 that makes it so much richer. Whatever previous conceptions you had about Hotel Garuda, erase them – there’s a new journey at play, and it’s only going to evolve into more confident, honest music.
Stream: Mom+Pop
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