By: zak

I’m fine if Columbus musicians keep floating out the amount and quality of EP content that we’ve received over the past half-year. The problem I personally come across when trying to digest EPs front to back is their lack of any fluid storytelling structure. They play almost like disjointed text messages. Usually, they are a collection of four or five really catchy tracks with a clear “cast your net” purpose of hoping that any one of those songs becomes a hit single.

EPs also often serve as thoughts in between more important thoughts, acting more as a way to potentially make a quick streaming buck. It seemed like a marketable pandemic plan: release a slew of EP content — songs you didn’t plan on performing live much before the pandemic — as a way to hold down the fort. That’s why I wasn’t too surprised when I started to notice how many EPs have come up on my radar the past year. The ones from Columbus, however, have served as observant, articulate productions instead of just purely content drops.

Singer-songwriter Miir’s recent EP Reminiscent Vibes, Vol. 2 is a peak example of bringing the authentic, linear storytelling most often associated with LP releases to her six-track follow-up to the first volume. Each track comes with tender reflections, vulnerable musings that Miir penned at the end of 2019, just before things shut down last March. The second song, “BEHIND ME,” has a bounce in its bass, much like the lines delivered by the Thundercat or noted bassist Pino Palladino, with the swagger of Sade also in her voice. It’s followed by the chopped and screwed vibe of “3:18,” an oddly optimistic romantic turn halfway through the project (which is also paired with the tightest jazz drum fills on the EP). Miir then states, “I had to learn the hard way,” a bookmark of growth on “BETTER DAYZ.”

“It felt cathartic in a way,” said Miir. “I really did feel so isolated at the time because of what I was personally going through, so to release this project after the world’s isolation makes me feel like I’m not alone in what I am feeling. It’s very refreshing to see people relate to my music in a way that it actually aids in their healing. To me, that is [one of] the best feelings ever.”

The first volume of Miir’s Reminiscent Vibes EP series arrived just less than four years apart from the most recent edition. The first volume dropped around the same time when a class of Chicago rap-poets like Noname and SABA  suddenly arrived into the mainstream conscience. Vol. 1 is confident and slyly braggadocio. Strong traits — both in lyrical content and delivery — that do their job of bringing an audience to focus. Leading into the final track of the original Reminiscent Vibes is a dialogue excerpt from Spike Jonze’s dystopian love story Her. Theodore (portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) asks his virtual assistant girlfriend (voiced by Scarlet Jo) to create a song for him, a lovely piano tune that makes you wonder if human connection is a necessity. 

But what both EPs share in common is Miir’s flawlessly slurred delivery, which pairs well with the jazzy bedroom beats she’s typically gliding over. What follows on Vol. 2 makes for very aware and pretty unfortunate foresight from Miir with the film being a futuristic love story gone sour, much like these meditations. Isolation or no isolation, there is a common thread of phones and how we perceive our love relationships through them. Phrases like “return to sender” bring about signs of communication going south. As much as a toxic effect that technological forces such as texting play in Miir’s stories, there’s also a skit where a voice drops the encouraging words, “It’s alright, girl. You got this!” via a voicemail on the closing track offers another side of the smartphone coin. For every ex that’s ghosting us, there’s also a friend who’s willing to drop you a line and give you the validating pep talk you’ve needed in this pandemic.

Follow Miir on Instagram.