EP REVIEW: Babyxsosa by Babyxsosa

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WRITTEN BY: Sydney Martin

Switching from the energetic and carefree tonality of her more recent songs is Babyxsosa’s
newest EP, Babyxsosa, released on November 11th and spanning a total of 19 minutes across
six songs. Although most of Babyxsosa’s songs are centered around themes of heartbreak,
success, and self-empowerment– previous song collections diverse in emotional tone–
Babyxsosa rarely strays from a soul aching sentiment regarding relationships.
First of the EP is “Introduction,” nostalgic instrumentals sounding as if extracted from a romantic
noir. Distant violins fuse with wide ranging vocalizations, complimenting the soft and
melancholic sound of Babyxsosa’s voice beautifully; as if waking up to a light that declares the
day gray and cloudy beyond your blinds, an intimate space of both comfort and sadness is
established.
Each song rolls into the next, “Never Know/ Viral” established by its slow and gentle piano
chords; accelerating in pace, the repetitive lyrics and general sadness of the first half of the
song exhale abruptly into a more optimistic chorus. Nearing the outro, previous timid vocals
have been surrendered as she renounces her need for love, transitioning into hopeful “Baby G”;
the third song of the EP, serving as both a buffer and break from melancholy.
Through positive violin chords, moving drums, and the dreamy dusting of piano notes, self
liberation is conveyed: an emotional reclamation amongst the ruins of a relationship, this
unapologetic attitude heard iconically across Babyxsosa’s songs, allowing her lyrical slander to
exist as spoken truth rather than insult is her uniquely high-pitched voice. Her voice is
impossible not to adore– holding an air of purity and innocence, its soft, airbrushed quality melts
each word into the next.
“That’s Just What They Say When They Don’t Know You Like I Know You,” is the EP’s fourth
composition, a mourning-ful song of tired strings of lyrics, containing both synthesized and
organic piano. Through its slow place and repetition, a blanketing exhaustion allures listeners to
really feel what is being said. At times the song briefly accelerates, only to fall back onto a soft-
spoken sadness that is eventually succumbed to in the next song, “I Found It.” As if the energy
and grandiose lyrics of “finding another one” have been utterly exhausted from Baby G, “I Found
It” contains only echoing vocals, dipping deeper into weariness. Furthermore, solitude is reflected
within the echoing vocals of “I Found It,” a song stripped of instrumentals, a disappointed
continuation of her hopeful proclamations in Baby G of “I’ll find another one”– as though the “it”
found was disillusioning, the song curating the feel of stumbling upon a vacant room that was
expected to hold so much more.
Unlike other compositions, Babyxsosa’s voice is at the forefront of this song; her vocals
entrancing, their constant movement and expression notable across all her releases and
strikingly displayed in “I Found It.” Encompassed by her album cover are similar themes of
solitude, a simple photograph in which she is turned from the camera: no “BLING BLING” or
vibrant lighting like past releases were visualized as.
Completing the album is an 8-minute-long song: slow rich piano chords, vocal fragmentations,
people shuffling, and indistinct conversation working towards the title named “I’m Over This
Level of My Life, My Love.” Frequently the vocals cut out, as if swallowing her tongue mid verse,
contributing to a painful build leading up to melodic wails and screeches, sharp inhales and
strings of lyrics that hopelessly devolve into mumbles.

Babyxsosa’s frequent choice to leave much unspoken and inaudible across the EP establishes
an inexplicable form of emotional resonance; an ode to all that words cannot encompass. The
combination of distorted vocals and more organic instrumentals, a vulnerable voice sung
throughout, allows Babyxsosa to cohesively exist as a raw and synthesized work of art. By
leaving space between each angelically pleading series of vocals, the beauty of the
instrumentals and her voice are further embalmed, projecting her voice as an instrument on a
level unheard of in past releases. Free of lyrical facades and seductive mixes that often
romanticize the disheartened, antagonistic content of her songs, somberness is contagiously
expressed across Babyxsosa.
Serving as a musical representation of some sort of heavy-hearted acceptance, this EP can be
thought of as the preface of healing– a raw announcement to listeners, free of ego and glamor,
facing a truth without denial or distraction.
This EP narrates the process of accepting the loss of someone, providing a soft-spoken solace
to listeners–a silent ventilation– constructing a space meant for emotions to be felt and
processed rather than deciphered or distracted from. Sometimes you just need a moment to
feel, and Babyxsosa invites you to do so for the duration of Babyxsosa.