Sublime new music suddenly hits the airwaves, an already impactful Amanda Aponte reaches peak vocal and lyrical embrace, for the emotional depths and enchanting melodies, of what i didn’t get to say.
Already noting tens of thousands of monthly listeners for her faultlessly soulful RnB vocals and the breathy and often unfiltered nature of her writing, Amanda Aponte secures her role at the forefront of indie projects this year, offering a seven-track EP that’s seamlessly expressive from start to finish.
We begin fully enveloped in layers of organic vocal harmonies, for a deeply moving, stop-you-in-your-tracks intro. Then we fall into the rising emotion and breathy realism of co-dependency – a piercing sense of relatable honesty and passion that’s hypnotic.
After this, lavender(lovebug) emerges as something of a piano-led ballad, both heart-breaking and ambient, poetically bold in its imagery and reflection. This one is worth more than a single listen to fully connect with the ideas, scenes and feelings that inspired it.
The leading single from the EP is what goes around comes back around. The style has roots amidst this project now, a gentle piano repeating and looping, lashings of reverb, and a smooth but unpredictable long-form vocal melody, presenting deeply personal contemplations and stories that feel intimate and captivating. The chorus is impassioned, strained and evocative in its tuneful change of direction, and sudden intensity.
After this, something like easy-going piano jazz lets the space warm with wonder. finding me (interlude) is brief but striking, guiding us through fearless statements of self-scorn, self-hate, the inner struggle that is living and accepting ourselves in the modern world. The authenticity here is compelling, and the arrangement is so vulnerable and genuine that the words and music naturally draw you in.
This project impresses from the outset quite distinctly, but it actually grows better still as things roll along. Consider the sudden acoustic finger-picking and harmonies of love letter to me. We switch from the self-hatred to something a little more hopeful, and our protagonist takes us with them on this journey, through heartbreak towards possibility and optimism. This song is gorgeous to listen to, less uncertain and more confident, calming – an essential turning point in the EP or overall concept of what i didn’t get to say.
Finally, the soulful peaks of blessing add another highlight at the curtain call – a sharper vocal depth feels all the more confident, not tentative, in reaching crescendos and passionate highs, backed by only a single piano chord for each phrase, before evolving in to a fully dramatized moment of overcoming, power, and presence. This track again holds tightly to your attention and emotion, and makes for the perfect closing moment and pinnacle of this series of stories and experiences.
Amanda Aponte excels for this project, a nostalgic production shining light on the natural nuance of both her vocal style and openly revealing songwriting. The melodies, patterns, ideas and emotions are gripping, and it makes for a profoundly thoughtful, moving listen, and a timeless introduction to Amanda’s style as a leading indie artist.
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