Struck by the notion that I know you’re still
A song I’ll never get out of my head
I heard you laughing in the parking lot
I wondered how I ever could forget
So when you’re waving at a stranger
Or you’re standing in the mirror by your bed
I want to watch you getting changed
I want to memorize the way you tilt your head
It’s easy to be swallowed whole by the new EP, ‘again for the first time,’ by Everythings — the name under which the immensely talented Buffalo indie songwriter Alex Behrens performs.
The poignant and ethereal nature of Behren’s music provides the perfect foundation on which he lyrically builds a vivid landscape. And soon after you begin listening, you find yourself lost, not only in the record, but lost too inside your own head, submerged by the thoughts and feelings which begin to give rise as you listen to these wonderfully crafted songs.
This EP resonates, deeply. The emotions Behrens navigates on ‘again for the first time,’ are personal, but they are also relatable. And as we listened again and again to this record, we found ourselves entranced by everything in our psyche we spend our days fighting silently to keep at bay— all those times we wish we could re-live, those moments which were all too fleeting, and the ‘do-overs’ we long for but will never get.
Simply put, ‘again for the first time’ is a hypnotizing piece of work.
“The lyrics are all very personal to me, which made actually releasing the EP a very scary experience,” said Behrens. “I am still figuring out how to be vulnerable; it can be so embarrassing to be a person. But I’ve had friends reach out to tell me the ways that they’ve connected with specific lyrics and that has made the scariness feel worth it.”
Set your pride down
I wouldn't mind another look
I trace the light across the corners of the room
And it only can get better
If we ever set it straight
We float the word forever like it don't mean anything
—Prophet (from ‘again for the first time’)
What Behrens is able to pull off on ‘again for the first time’ is somewhat remarkable. The EP is heavy, but it’s never cumbersome. It’s deep, yet there’s a lightness about it. It’s contemplative without being melancholy.
Musically, ‘again for the first time’ is well constructed — from the transcendental electric guitar work on the song ‘Prophet’ to the pop sensibility of ‘Conceit,’ and from the perfectly placed indie-movie feel of the interlude, ‘Morning,’ to the contemporary and soulful rhythm of ‘Mary.’ Lyrically, meanwhile, Behrens weaves imageries so rich that when they are wrapped around their respective song melodies it all makes for a mesmerizing musical experience.
The bed of needles
The head that wears the crown
You holy roller
You're hauling your body around
Said you felt like a bird in my fist
And I'm way too high for driving
All the goddamn parking spots I missed
I don't want to say goodbye yet
—Icarus (from ‘again for the first time’)
“I didn’t set out to make an EP,” Behrens said. “I made these songs on their own with no real goal in mind. It was only when combing through everything I had made in the past year that I started to see through-lines and recognize how some of them could fit together. From there it was just a matter of deciding what would go where and then adjusting the songs themselves so that they’d flow naturally and feel cohesive.”
Behrens didn’t set out to make an EP. Thankfully, however, he did. And on ‘again for the first time’ by Everythings, Behrens gives you everything you could ever possibly want should you ever want a record in which to get completely and wonderfully lost, even if just for a while.
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