This review was originally posted on Discovered Magazine in April 2019.
Working the Australian circuit over the past few years, Yours Truly has slowly begun to infiltrate the music scenes of the UK, the states and beyond. Making their UNFD label debut with ‘Afterglow’, the five-track pop-centric EP packs a punch with its catchy hooks, poetic lyrics and surprise collaboration from Between Me & You vocalist Jake Wilson.
Opening up the EP is ‘Circles’, a guitar-driven pop track that instantly introduces the listener to both Yours Truly’s sound and the incredibly powerful vocals of Mikaila Delgado. Musically, ‘Circles’ has the perfect balance of rock and pop influences with its infectious bass line and rock-orientated percussion and guitars weaved throughout. By the second verse, however, the song begins to fall flat with its repetitive lyrics that are not indicative of the writing capabilities the members of Yours Truly have. Overall, it is a good opening track as it introduces new listeners to the musical style of Yours Truly, but it is definitely not the strongest track presented on ‘Afterglow’.
‘High Hopes’ is the song on the EP that draws the most attention. The power of the track is in its vulnerably relatable lyrics listeners will be able to identify with immediately like ‘seasons still change but you’ll still be the same / you can’t take it back / with all I tried / all I know is that you can’t shape me’. As well, the guitar-heavy verses mixed with the catchy choruses that are bound to get stuck in your head all make for a song listeners will be itching to see Yours Truly play live at their shows.
We all love a good collaboration and for their song ‘Delusional Paradise’, Yours Truly teamed up with Between Me & You vocalist Jake Wilson. As two Australian-based bands that are making waves internationally this year with their respective projects, ‘Delusional Paradise’ is a well-thought-out collaboration that will help elevate both of these bands and introduce them to each other’s fanbases. Delgado and Wilson’s vocals compliment each other well, Wilson’s strong and raspy pop-punk influenced vocals being distinct enough from Delgado’s smooth and powerful pop-influenced voice that they blend together well without feeling like one is outshining the other.
Yours Truly has clearly honed in on their sound, presenting five tracks that will please both new listeners within the genre and fans who have been around since the release of their debut EP, 2017’s ‘Too Late for Apologies’. However, while ‘Afterglow’ is a strong representation of the vocal capabilities of Degaldo, who has possibly one of the strongest female vocals the scene has heard in years, ‘Afterglow’ is missing something that really separates Yours Truly from other artists in the scene.
Having very similar sound, song structure and lyrical content as other releases that have come out over the past few years, ‘Afterglow’ hasn’t really presented anything new or especially unique to the genre. It does, however, show a lot of Yours Truly’s potential as they prepare for their debut full-length album release in the next year or so. Their talent and skills are apparent, each member of Yours Truly contributing something to the EP that shows their ability to craft and write good pop-influenced rock songs. There is just an element or two that is missing from their music that would separate them from the pack and allow their music to not blend in with everything else being released right now.
For now, however, Yours Truly is a band with immense potential who will surely gain fans during this ‘Afterglow’ era while also catching the attention of many who will be watching to see what they do next.