hemlocke springs Has Been going…going…GONE! Into the Music World
Isimeme “Naomi” Udu, better known by her stage name, hemlocke springs, has just released her long-awaited debut EP. going…going…GONE! is full of light, indie pop songs that have fun, somewhat unconventional sounds and vocals. The 7-track EP is only 21 minutes long and delivers a mere taste of hemlocke springs’ full capability.
According to Ali Shutler, in an interview with Dork, the artist talks about how she went from studying for her Ph.D. to performing at Lollapalooza. The release of the viral hit “gimme all ur luv” came from a “why not” attitude. “When you’re in a silly, goofy, stressed out, depressed mood, you do a lot of things that you don’t know why you do them,” she says. “I didn’t think anything was going to change.”
The same can be said for her “girlfriend” drop. “I only put that song out because I was procrastinating, and look where that’s got me,” she recounts. “Procrastination is key. Remember that.”
Despite her internet successes, springs didn’t fully understand how much music had changed her life. “The future that I thought I was going to have was going, going gone. I’m on a different path now, and I wanted to tackle the fear that I have about that, but also the hope.”
When it came to creating the EP, springs chose not to include her previous singles “stranger danger!” and “sever the blight.” She tells Dork, “I was just winging it for a majority of the writing, but then three-quarters of the way through, I understood where I was supposed to go and how I wanted to represent myself. I could see the vision.” That vision resulted in those two singles not making the cut.
The First Half of the EP
going…going…GONE! begins with four tracks that were all previously released as singles. The first track, “gimme all ur luv,” is springs’ debut single from May 2022. The next track, “girlfriend,” also came out in 2022.
“heavun” is the first track on the EP that dropped in 2023. Following that, the artist’s latest single, “enknee1,” from August of this year, is the fourth track on going…going…GONE!
“enknee1” is the first song on the EP that, while still very pop and electronic, feels bittersweet and full of longing. hemlocke springs wonders if there’s anyone out there to love her on this track, and the song feels like the perfect transition song to her new music.
The Latter Half of the EP
The last three tracks of the EP are all new, unreleased songs from the indie pop singer. “pos” takes things back to the upbeat sound that the beginning of the EP has. However, that’s where the similarities between it and the first few tracks stop. “pos” gets rid of those light, airy, ’80s vibes and sees hemlocke springs singing on little to no instrumentation, aside from some percussion and a few random, unexpected sounds. Overall, the song has a much more unusual, abstract sound.
“the train to nowhere” continues that unconventional sound from “pos” in both the vocals and the instrumentation. It also incorporates a darker vibe. This makes perfect sense considering springs sings lyrics like, “Although we try / People can change their ways and up and come and hide / But life wasn’t made for you to wait around and stare / To choose to go nowhere / And forever be out of luck.”
Finally, the last song on the EP is the title track, “going…going…GONE!” The song is much more mellow than the rest of the EP. It both sounds like a closing song and yet ends things feeling incomplete.
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