"Bittersweet, but Beautiful": nobody likes you pat Sings Six Letters to Loved Ones in 'dear...' EP

nobody likes you pat’s Pat Kiloran opens up about his achingly honest and beautifully raw ‘dear…’ EP, an intimate collection of love letters brought to life in song.

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Stream: “being broken” – nobody likes you pat

“dear…” really captures the final moments of the first third of my life. It is bittersweet, but it is beautiful.

Pat Kiloran has a habit of spilling his soul in songs.

He did it for years as the voice of emo pop band MILKK, and he’s continued to do it with his solo project, nobody likes you pat, through which he’s already released three EPs and one studio album in under three years’ time. That prolific streak lends itself to an ever-growing catalog of bleeding heart anthems, gut-wrenching ballads, and everything in-between – and, for his part, Kiloran’s only just getting started. The artist who introduced himself with lines like “maybe letting go is how I finally see” and “I’m getting tired of waking up with who I am” continues to pour himself, scars and all, into his art on dear…, a brutally honest and beautifully raw folk pop EP full of emotional nuance and stunning sonic light.

dear... EP - nobody likes you pat — dear… EP – nobody likes you pat

Put all the pieces back together
Of the full person I was before
This had to shatter me forever
Now, I’m scattered on the floor

Yeah, you can say I’m dramatic
That I’m just way clingy like static
That I’m too soft like some satin
But the memories left me empty handed
I was hoping
Something out there could make me whole and
Finally fix my heart and hold it
‘Cause I’m so tired of being broken

– “Being Broken,” nobody likes you pat

Released September 22, 2023 via Kiloran’s own my dreams are dead, llc under exclusive license to Nettwerk Music Group, dear… aches from the inside out. nobody likes you pat’s third EP arrives less than a year after the release of his debut album imago, which is short for the Latin phrase ‘Imago Dei,’ which means ‘image of God.’

At the time, Kiloran described his debut album like watching a home movie: “These are honest stories and thoughts about everyday life, growth, change, and philosophical expansion,” he shared. “I want this to be the soundtrack for people who are trying to get through their lives and deal with sadness. Maybe it’s a place for you to hear someone else has been there too. For me, nobody likes you pat is the diary of my life that I hope to look back on and read when I’m 80-years-old.”

**In the spirit of diaristic writing, the deeply intimate dear… is composed of six letters to loved ones, all in song form.**

“I had been writing a completely different album after the release of my debut album, imago,” Kiloran explains. “But I got stopped dead in my tracks. And I had no idea how to keep going. It dawned on me that the core of my work has always been taking the small simplicity of my daily life and expanding it into the greater story of life and reality. And what better way to get back to your roots than to write letters to the people you love. So, I did this in song form.”

“Once I knew where I was going with this, [the vision] stayed pretty consistent. Holistic, gentle, sentimental, organic. I wanted people to be able to feel the acoustic guitar in their hands and sense the quiet, everyday spaces in which these songs were written.”

Kiloran, who recently went through what he describes as an “unwanted divorce,” says this EP will also be the last release from nobody likes you pat as we know him today.

“Ironically, this project will be the final step in this phase of my artistic journey. My personal life has drastically changed since making it, and I no longer can use much of the same inspiration that past “nobody likes you pat” albums or EPs have used. So, I would say that “dear…” really captures the final moments of the first third of my life. It is bittersweet, but it is beautiful.”

A shake-up is clearly afoot, but before Kiloran makes a big change, this record stands as a testament to all we have come to know and love about his artistry: That unfiltered, heart-on-sleeve honesty that moves us simultaneously to smiles and tears.

Kiloran describes this EP as transparent, journal-esque, homely. The title comes from that salutation we know all too well.

“Most letters start that way, with a sweet reminder of how you view the person you are writing to,” he says. “This whole record is about people who are dear or who have been dear to me.”

Thus begins a record that is as tender as it is turbulent: From sweet odes to friendship (“what a good friend is for“) to raw reflections on true love (“folding your clothes” and “dashboard (loved by you)“) and inner reckoning (“being broken“), dear… is an unabridged exploration of the most meaningful relationships in Kiloran’s life at the time of writing. The record is bookended by “dear god,” which sees Kiloran singing openly about his faith and relationships with God for the first time, and “look at you now,” a love letter to his two oldest sons (he’s the father of five) in which he reflects on their childhoods and sings both to their current and future selves:

Every night when you’re sleeping
I remember how quiet it’ll be someday
In this old house
I hope then that you’ll look back and see
The way I look at you now

While “being broken” perhaps hits the hardest in this collection of bleeding heart bangers, it’s the love song “Folding Your Clothes” that resonates the most for its maker. “This is one of the top five best songs I’ve ever written,” he says wistfully. “It hits very differently now, as I have gone through an unwanted divorce since I wrote it. But the message still stands (maybe even more intensely): True love is patient and enduring, even through the mess of life.”

I’ve got pictures you sent me
Saved on my phone
For when we’re not in sync
And I wanna feel like you’re close
No, I know, I know, I know
That you just need some time alone
But I miss you
And I really think you’re beautiful

Sometimes the fabric tears and it fades
And the wrinkles won’t iron away
But I remember that I love you most

One by one by one by one
I’ll put away the mess we’ve made
What is love except what’s done
When the feelings wash away

I hope my intimate correspondence with the deepest loves in my life blooms into a beauty of its own for whomever might happen to listen.”

nobody likes you pat’s namesake has clearly been through the wringer recently, but that didn’t stop him from releasing this soul-stirring set of songs.

Visceral, vulnerable, and beautifully raw, dear… aches in all the right ways as Pat Kiloran pays homage to those who mean the most to him, and in turn, invites us to reflect on our own most cherished relationships – and what our loved ones mean to us.

“As always, I just hope that even one person can find something in these lyrics, these melodies, that gives them faith, hope, and love,” Kiloran shares. “That’s all I can offer to the world, and I’m grateful that I get a chance to do that.”

Here’s to all the bleeding hearts, and all the different ways we bleed. Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside nobody likes you pat’s dear… EP with Atwood Magazine as Pat Kiloran goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of his latest release!

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:: stream/purchase dear… here ::

:: connect with nobody likes you pat here ::

Stream: ‘dear…’ – nobody likes you pat

:: Inside dear… ::

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dear god

I realized that for an artist that brags about being so honest and transparent in my work, I have barely written about the cornerstone of my life: my faith. I felt like it was super important to open this project with a frank and direct conversation between myself and the God I have bet my life on.

what a good friend is for

I truly believe friendship is the core human relationship. I think romantic partnerships and marriages are special and unique reflections of humanity, but I think that, even within those, a real friendship is what stands the test of time. I had to honor my friends with a song.

folding your clothes

This is one of the top five best songs I’ve ever written. It hits very differently now, as I have gone through an unwanted divorce since I wrote it. But the message still stands (maybe even more intensely): true love is patient and enduring, even through the mess of life.

being broken

This one is the perfect bridge between this EP and what I’m writing next. I actually wrote this song long before I even knew my marriage was ending. It’s crazy to think that these lyrics were so prophetic to my life.

dashboard (loved by you)

This song is hard to ever go back to. It is an intimate love song. It came out the day after I found out my wife was leaving me. I don’t have much to say about it at this point. It’s kinda painful.

look at you now

A love letter to my two oldest sons. That corny-ass saying, “they grow up so fast,” is 100% accurate. I had pretty shitty relationships with my dad and step-dad growing up. I hope that my kids look back at their childhoods and think fondly of our time together. And I hope to continue to be their safety net and biggest fan as they move into adulthood, several years from now.

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