updog - balloon boy EP
Rocktronic hit, updog, opens up a world of honesty, realisations and a longing for an everlasting youthful mind with his unmissable new EP, balloon boy.
Rewind to only one year ago, the music and intriguing child-like sketches of the artist emerged with an immediate impact on people. Rapidly building up his world and fanbase, updogs music has since explored the stages of a process that we’re all too familiar with… growing up. Whether it’s growing apart from people in goodbye, battling against responsibility in dying breath, or finding strength to make the right choices in spearhead, balloon boy, encompasses this journey perfectly. Manifesting these thoughts and frustrations into his tantalising rocktronic sound, with unforgettable melodies and impressive drops.
Updog explains:
balloon boy is a journey following all the trials and tribulations you go through when you’re in the process of becoming an adult and reaching a point in life where you suddenly realize you have lost your real self. We all go through crippling insecurities, addiction, loss of friends, giving up our passions to pursue corporate careers, toxic relationships, etc, and eventually you probably won’t like what you see in the mirror.
Hell and demons are ongoing motifs throughout many updog songs. In a non-religious way, hell. is something we live through everyday, encompassing everything that ruins us from being ourselves; and demons are our own worst qualities , the voice inside our head that holds us back from being the person we’re meant to be. This EP was my therapy. It empowered me and brought a beam of hope, happiness and a change in the way I think. All in all it left me with one key motto to live by: never growing up. Keep your mind open to new things and changes, but never let go of who you were when you were young.
From being signed and developed on Cloudkid, to being featured by the likes of MrSuicideSheep, EDM.com and amassing over 2.5M streams on Spotify, the combination of his artistic sincerity and unforgettable songs is clearly reflected in the extensive recognition of updogs music so far. balloon boy now brings this all together into a seven track journey, released today Friday 1 May 2020.
The first track spearhead is a great little pop rock song with a very familiar riff, which I’m struggling to remember what song it reminds me off ?? It’s a good opening track cos it has a beat and catchiness that grabs you and has you listening straight away. The chorus also reels you in “Hey you think you Need me, from what you saw on TV think twice don’t deceive Me, but I won’t let you bring my own demise ‘HEY’”.
useless is electro pop, some strange yet interesting beats and a message that is about self esteem and the battle to be confident. I particularly liked the clever self deprecating lyrics “I feel fat I feel stupid I feel useless pass the blame, like my life is a constant fucking horse chasing a train, If it’s me I dont know but I sure feel so alone and the reason I mistreat me, is not feeling self assured”. i see hell has a more upbeat pop feel to the track despite the subject content describing the failings to deal with growing up, I love the lines “took my pain away again why do only good things always end, heed my words don't second guess moving on to me just feels like dread, but this time it feels like I just need somewhere else to hide, so I faked my own demise hoping this could be my new disguise”.
The next track tired of my life is another downbeat song, electro synth pop, with some guitar riffs thrown in, lyrically it’s another clever descriptive of life’s travails “I’m so tired of my life and I think I need a little time now, To find another meaning while Im bleeding, As I’m pulling another knife from my back, damn”.
goodbye starts off more rockier, with pulsing beats and drum sequences and good vocals once again, very spacey sounds with this one and super strong lyrics once again, particularly “Can’t cope with myself tonight I think I made myself now the enemy, And this has come to me the life I live is one big calamity, Even though I always thought I can fight it the distress in my mind takes the flight, and looking down and I’m scared that I might fall to the world down below riding solo”.
Track six never growing up starts off with some guitar slides, before the drums kick in, there is a heavier beat to this one and again with razor sharp lyrics “Saw myself fall but I’m coming up the wounds are still open but they’re covered up, Keep my mind open never growing up Daddy said he’s proud then I fucked it up”.
The final track dying breath pulls it all together, darker heavier beats underlay this track and it ends the EP perfectly with yet more biting lyrics “As the pain takes its own form hope I don’t fight this alone, Life has never been too great until you came and broke my fall, But I’ve seen you come and go and I never let you grow, You saw through my foolish ways so we took our separate ways”
This EP is all about the lyrics and cynicism of growing up, it is definitely worst case scenario but paints many pictures of struggles everyone has to go through as part of life.
This is an absolutely brilliant, yet bizarre EP, some fantastic beats and an EP linked song by song by some of the strongest subject content lyrics I have heard outside of RAP, give it a listen and get ready to unleash all the balloon boys (and girls) inside every one of us.
Tracklist:
spearhead
useless
i see hell
tired of my life
goodbye
never growing up
dying breath
Give balloon boy a stream now:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5ha5eyxijTiMSKHFfThI34?si=JBwu_MHVRgadp4RaTF4D2Q
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