20-year- old Melbourne artist Thomas Headon has just released cathartic EP titled ‘The Goodbye EP’- and I’m losing my mind over it. Producer, singer AND songwriter - a triple threat y’all - Headon’s EP features recent tracks ‘Loving You’ and ‘UrbanAngel1999’ in a yearlong tale of his every-day life antics.
Headon starts us off hot with ‘I’m Finally In Love’ – a 77 second track about new love that coaxes listeners into the romantic yet pessimistic album that is ‘The Goodbye EP’. The short track has subtle classic videogame sounds in the back, with lyrics that are beautifully romantic, but almost sarcastic in a sense. All I know is that when I’m saying the lines, ‘She’s so fine / This can’t go wrong / She’s on my mind / I’m finally in love.’, I’m sensing that something is definitely bound to go wrong and it’s going to be fodder for a year-long EP if only I didn't have the lyrical talent of a screaming fox.
The unrequited love stars in track 2, ‘Loving You’, with opening verse lines ‘Loving you is easy 'cause you're lovely / It's the truth, you're just so good to love / But loving you doesn't mean you love me / So love me too, so love me too’. His Rex Orange County influence is played out in the mellow instrumentals, featuring a noticeable baseline and synth pop overlaying. The inner anxieties of this suspectedly unrequited love are presented in the final verse, ‘When I'm sitting at home, now on my own / Thinking of you, while you probably think of someone else.’
It’s time to ‘Focus’ (see what I did there?... I’ll see myself out). Reminiscent of Easy Life’s melodic Californian beach vibe, ‘Focus’ is a mellow, infectious track that begs for the attention of audiences. The sun-soaked vibe is laden with longing love that Headon just can’t get a hold of.
Headon shares of the EP, "I wrote 'The Goodbye EP' over the course of a year or so. I'd just moved to a completely new environment and was in this time of meeting and seeing all these different people. A lot of the songs on this EP to me are a call for attention, whether that be from the girl I was into at the time, new friends or even myself. It's kinda just a diary of my interactions over the past year, while also following on from my last EP 'The Greatest Hits' being that usually after that album everyone just has a goodbye album."
No matter what age, gender or race you are, we’ve all gone stir crazy in quarantine. ‘Cut And Bleach My Hair’ is a track for that exact feeling, with opening line ‘Blue's looking kind of cool to me lately / I've lost it a bit but I'm not yet crazy’ that we can all find relatable and the obvious connection between the colour blue and sadness. The bedroom pop style escapism resonates with audiences, and I found myself drawn to the line, ‘I tried a bunch of feel good mints to remind myself that I’m not a sweet tooth,’ due to the creative symbolism for medication. The track gives an introspective view that contrasts with the rest of the album, but still manages to meld with the rest of the tracks.
Headon decides to re-hype us with the track ‘UrbanAngel1999’. If you haven’t read my review of this one song, you should, because the love I have for this song is unmeasurable. Urban Angel captures audiences in an online relationship that hasn’t gone the way Headon may have hoped. After listening to the whole album, I assume naturally that this UrbanAngel is the same woman he was finally in love with, based off the lyric in ‘I’m Finally In Love’, ‘we speak online from time to time / And then we meet and drink at night / I hope I get to be around her more.’ I mean, come on. What are the chances of two online loves in a year? (probably a lot of people, to be fair).
Headon’s vibe of warmth, jolting humour and introspective perspective wrap together in the final song ‘I’m Finally Alone’. The juxtaposition of the year, beginning with ‘I’m Finally In Love’ to ‘I’m Finally Alone’ – apart from completely breaking my heart – presents a wholesome love for oneself.
With all the support and praise Thomas Headon has received over the release, we're sure that this EP is not an actual goodbye, but a sample of great things to come. At least the Harry Styles cardboard cut-out is featured in a few of the music video, so hopefully, he’s comforting our front man and helping him through this aching love.
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'The Goodbye EP' by Thomas Headon is out now!
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