Jayme Graves’ debut EP “Melancholy Friend” breaks through the bounds of toxic positivity to deliver non-sugar coated truth about the state of the world and mental health struggles. The record draws on signature early 2000s pop/rock and punk sounds as a nod to their influences, including Paramore, Rise Against, Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, and My Chemical Romance.
“I wrote it [Melancholy Friend] myself during the Omicron variant outbreak. The pandemic has hit me hard and I really struggled with figuring out how to cope with it. The day I wrote the first couple of verses, I felt just utterly overwhelmed. I had just gotten off of a Zoom meeting and was just feeling overwhelmed with all the work we had to do despite living in the middle of a pandemic.”
As Jayme Graves writes, they’re here to “bring depth back to the reignited pop/punk and emo revival.” They do exactly that on their debut EP Melancholy Friend. Guitar guides the way of the EP, with honest lyrics that you can feel deep down. “Blame the Internet” is a highlight with its opening guitar and catchy chorus that explores how it can feel to constantly log on and offline.