A new EP release from Skyler Reed delivers a beautiful and unique breed of honesty in the form of robust R&B songs performed with passion and it's all riddled with character that you end up getting attached to right from the get-go.
The Note 2 Self EP feels almost like a concept record where the songs interconnect in different ways but it's more like the record serves as a diary for the artist and each track is like a chapter in that diary.
The tracks are very personal, and honest, and Skyler has no problem giving pieces of herself with these songs to the point where I feel like it might have even been cathartic for her to write some of these.
The whole record was beautifully woven and brings in elements of classic and new school R&B approaches with little pop overtones here and there and some outstanding production that brings everything together so that she can really create an atmosphere.
The songs tell stories, and she gives personal truths throughout a lot of it so you can tell that a lot of these tracks came from some place real, and this makes the entire record all the more authentic.
Although there are some amazing elements of production throughout this record, some amazing keys, baselines that give the songs drive, a silky smoothness over some of these, little hints of edginess, it's her singing that grabs you.
You quickly find yourself paying a lot of attention to the lyrics and by the time the record's over you realize that it pulled you away from your surroundings so the whole thing is like an escape.
One of the reasons I found this record incredibly refreshing is because there is so much emotional drive behind it and that is captured very well in the delivery of these songs from the composition and arrangement, of these songs seem to complement each other.
This is a very classy sort of R&B record and she's just bursting with soul the entire time so it's very easy to get addicted to the sounds that you're hearing and once you're in that atmosphere I mentioned earlier, you really don't want to leave.
This was more like an experience than just an EP and when it's over you feel like you just read a good book or watched a movie, and you have to reacclimate yourself back to reality again.
Skyler is a youthful artist but has an old soul and that also comes through here and there throughout the record, so you have such a unique combination of old and new coming together in terms of the sounds and the approaches, the songwriting, and the styles.
Upon listening to this record, I took a little bit of a deep dive into Skyler's back catalog on Spotify and I'm glad that I did because they came across a few other EPs that really blew me away including one called Are We There Yet from 2021.
For me, it was a lot of fun to sort of listen to her Evolution as an artist.
This was a gracefully performed and wonderfully woven EP that speaks volumes for Skyler as an artist and lets her shine with presence.
I would heavily suggest listening to this record in full because if you only listen to one or two songs you're not getting the full range of what the EP has to offer.
Take a listen to this and see how it affects you.
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