Palm Trees sees LK make us aware that she’s suffering mentally and is dying to escape from the crap of reality to a much brighter, happier, more carefree place in her mind; an effective way to start off and paint a picture of the record we’re going to experience. My Parade features a really great chorus and LK on fire vocally as she becomes overwhelmed and kicked to the curb by others anytime she on the verge of recovery and accepting of who she is. Pink Grenades has an addictive hook while shining a light on the corrosive effects that drugs, depression and self-damage can have on a relationship, then the brief Margot Robbie does well to capture the growing pains of being alone for so long and desperately wanting that dream ideal partner to come along, save you and take you away from this seemingly everlasting hell.
LK unleashes into this mesmerising fury in the intense Sad Girl Suburbia where she rips into every little detail that she despises about the loop she finds herself in and how the longer she trapped, she’s only going to get worse, and as Blink-182 makes visible, her friends have moved away and are too busy to hang around and possibly raise her up, and as such, she becomes sadder and nostalgic for the past, then in perhaps the most heart-breaking of the batch, Orange Juice reveals that LK is straying further from her parents as a result of her problems, causing her to only drown deeper in the vortex of pain, overthinking and wishing for a better life.
This astounding EP from the Toronto alt-pop musician is definitely one of the most emotionally crippling and grievous records I’ve encountered in the longest time. The writing is thoroughly cutting and sympathetic, with only more details being picked up with each repeated listen, and LK’s performances are purely authentic and as legit as they come. Less Killjoy is special, no doubt about it, and I pray that she’s in a better place in the days since she first penned this.
SMALL MUSIC SCENE 