Mar 02, 2023
By Caleb Campbell
Tomorrow, Los Angeles-based alt pop singer/songwriter Skofee is set to share her sophomore EP, Joyland. Arriving in the wake of her 2020 debut EP, Polished, the record conjures a similar mix of evocative lo-fi pop ballads and infectious dancefloor fillers, balancing euphoria with a dreamy meditative edge.
As Skofee explains, the name Joyland comes from an old amusement park she went to growing up which has since closed down and fallen into disrepair. She says, “This EP is about the return to joy after falling out of touch with it in various ways. Joyland represents a euphoric state of mind, and one that isn’t necessarily accessible in the way it used to be.”
Today, ahead of the EP’s release Skofee has shared a listen to one of the tracklist’s highlights, “Easier,” premiering with Under the Radar.
“Easier” encapsulates many of the themes Skofee explores throughout the record, delivering an emotive and cinematic indie pop ballad. The track begins fragile and slight, building off of soft thrums of guitar, keening string arrangements, and Skofee’s vulnerable vocal performance. However, by its end, that melancholic tone turns soaring and cathartic, carried skyward on marching drums and anthemic vocal harmonies. In turn, the track’s chorus takes on a new defiant tone, as if Skofee is finally making a confident move toward what brings her joy.
Skofee says of the track, “I wrote ‘Easier’ at a time in my life when I was hiding in my room, not wanting to be seen. I felt like I should tuck myself away until I felt better, making myself as small as I could get in order to make space for someone who I felt deserved it more than I did. ‘I’m not here, if that makes this easier’ was the anthem of that few months. I think writing it helped give me the agency to take back some space in the world for myself.
Sam Vendig co-wrote and produced this song. We thought it was important for ‘Easier’ to have raw and vulnerable instrumentation to highlight the lyrics. It couldn’t have arrived at such a delicate place without his meticulous attention to detail and creative production style.”
Check out the song below. The Joyland EP is out everywhere tomorrow, March 3rd.