North Carolina singer/songwriter praise. offers a breathtakingly intimate and dynamically restless portrait of becoming on ‘LOST,’ – a genre-fluid, diaristic, and devastatingly beautiful EP that finds wonder, clarity, and quiet triumph in the long, unfinished work of finding your way back to yourself. Blending tender confession with dynamic soundscapes, he captures what comes after the crash: The slow, deliberate work of taking inventory and letting life matter again. 

Stream: “do i.” – praise.

There’s a soft stillness at the heart of LOST, – not emptiness, not confusion, but the calm that comes after the crash has already happened.

Across nine songs, praise. writes from that in-between space where the noise has settled just enough to hear yourself think again. The record moves patiently, letting feelings surface before they’re fully resolved, honoring the messiness of growth without rushing toward closure. LOST, doesn’t dramatize being untethered; it traces the slow, deliberate work of finding your footing again – one thought, one confession, one late-night realization at a time.

Released September 24, 2025 via Atlantic Records, LOST, is a breathtakingly beautiful triumph for singer/songwriter Praise McNealy – an intentional, emotionally driven EP that blends diaristic songwriting with dynamic, genre-fluid production, moving effortlessly between hushed confessionals, guitar-led folk-soul, dance-floor pulse, and low-glow pop without ever losing its emotional center. Across the project, praise. pairs heavy lyrics and heavy subject matter with a sense of motion and curiosity, allowing each song to feel like a step forward rather than a conclusion. It’s a record rooted in patience and self-inventory, guided by the belief that growth doesn’t arrive all at once, but reveals itself slowly through honesty, repetition, and the courage to keep naming what still hurts.

New York-born and now based in Charlotte, North Carolina, praise. has quickly emerged as a singular voice defined less by genre than by feeling. Initially drawn to music as a way to score his own short films, he fell in love with songwriting as a narrative tool – a way to translate interior life into lived-in scenes and moments. Early singles like “you still wear my clothes.” and “hills.” showcased his gift for intimacy and melody, while 2024’s debut album me and my friend named he(art). introduced him as a writer unafraid of stillness, grief, and emotional exposure, shaped in part by the loss of his grandmother and a desire to let his voice stand alone.

Where that record was stripped back on a sonic and emotional level – shaped by loss and the need to let his voice stand alone – LOST, widens the frame, with bolder instrumental and production choices, visceral, candid confessionals, and a continued refusal to get boxed into a single ‘genre’ or ‘sound.’ In essence, it’s praise. proving himself in real time not only as a storyteller, but also as a restless, curious creative willing to retune his art in real time – someone more interested in telling the truth as it unfolds than presenting a finished version of himself.

 “It’s what happens when you’re done crashing out,” he tells Atwood Magazine, calling the EP an intentional, dynamic quest. “LOST, is about finding you again and being comfortable on the journey that it takes to get back.” That comfort doesn’t come from certainty, but from allowing the story to keep unfolding.

For praise., the EP itself almost didn’t exist. He hadn’t planned to release a project before his next album, but the act of making these songs reshaped his relationship to creativity altogether. “The whole process of creating LOST, changed how I see creativity,” he says. “It allowed for me to continue to find and retune a sound for this project and the projects to come.” The vision shifted repeatedly as the songs took shape – not out of indecision, but openness. “My vision changed multiple times, but for good,” he reflects. “I’m so happy with what I put out.”

That sense of permission – to follow ideas where they lead, to let songs become more than they were meant to be – animates every corner of the record. LOST, is intentional without being rigid, diaristic without indulgence, and anchored in the belief that honesty doesn’t need polish to matter. “It shows that I can do it all and that I’m creative as sh*t, while also having this story more so about me and who and what I am. me and my friend named he(art). was more about, ‘hey, this is what I’m going through.’ My grandma passed and it was stripped back for my voice to shine through. But LOST, is heavy lyrics, heavy subject matter, with dynamic production. I love them both so much.”

Taken together, LOST, reads as a living document – a collection of moments caught mid-thought, mid-feeling, each one contributing to a larger emotional arc without demanding resolution.

Each song offers its own vantage point on that journey, revealing different shades of doubt, clarity, longing, and growth as the record moves forward.

The EP opens with “do i.,” a song that began almost accidentally – written at home in Charlotte during a PlayStation party, half-formed and living quietly in praise.’s notes app. At first, it was pure venting, unfiltered and unresolved. Only later, once he reached Los Angeles, did it begin to expand. With co-writer and singer/songwriter Lizzy Cameron’s help, the song grows outward, transforming a private spiral into a fully realized sonic experience. That evolution mirrors its role on the record: An opening question rather than a statement, circling doubts about ambition, family, freedom, and inheritance without forcing answers. It’s fitting that praise. didn’t know it would become the introduction – “do i.” sounds like the moment before the door opens.

Just to feel closer to me
What is freedom if it’s costing me?
i wish i talked to dad
‘bout more than just
this music thing
Am I choosing
or just following his prophecy?
And would I give it all up?
Would I give it all up?

I’m tired of alibis
Do you know it feels
to watch your mama cry
Never really been that
good at saying goodbyes
Saying goodbyes

Dry my eyes
And know you’re not here
I wonder why, why

“matters to me.” deepens that intimacy, unfolding like a late-night confession you weren’t sure you were ready to say out loud. Built on warm keys, hushed percussion, and a low-glow atmosphere that feels cinematic without excess, the song moves slowly, deliberately, letting each thought land before the next one arrives. Lines like “phone filled with voice memos, tears fall on the pages” and “I need validation, I’m filled with jealousy” don’t perform vulnerability – they sit inside it. The song almost didn’t make the project at all. “It was not supposed to be this deep, fun, storytelling song,” praise. admits. But that looseness is exactly what gives it power. As the lyrics drift into memory – a conversation with his grandmother that reframes success entirely – validation narrows down to the voices that actually count. By the time he lands on “that’s the whole point of this sh*t anyway,” it feels less like a punchline than a truth finally spoken aloud.

phone filled with voice memos
tears fall on the pages
i try writing out my thoughts
sounds better when i say it
talked to grandma today
she said around the neighborhood you’re famous
i said i wish that mattered
she said praise
well it matters to me
i forgot
that’s the whole point of this sh*t anyway

For praise., the intimacy is the point. “They are [all] personal,” he says of his songs. “I think it’s important to have songs like that, and I love that style of writing. It’s like, ‘aye bro this is what’s on my mind, listen to this real quick.’ It’s like when Drake says it’s 4AM wherever the… you know, it’s like what Frank does with his writing. It pulls you in and allows for the listener to feel close and allows for me to give an update and use real life and use names. It’s my favorite way to write.”

Where “matters to me.” opens inward, “pilot.” snaps into motion. The quickest song on the record to come together, it was made live almost offhandedly – a moment praise. didn’t initially think much of until listeners did. What began as an album throwaway became a highlight once it hit TikTok, its restless energy and emotional volatility striking a nerve. The song captures the tension between wanting closeness and pushing against it, moving with a nervous momentum that mirrors the lyric’s push-pull dynamic. Its placement on LOST, underscores one of the EP’s central ideas: Sometimes the songs you least expect to carry weight end up steering the course.

“down down down.” grounds the record again, pairing emotional heaviness with a striking sense of restraint. Freestyled during a period of displacement – recorded while fires were burning in Los Angeles and marking praise.’s first session in his label’s studio – the gentle, dreamy acoustic song carries a quiet urgency. Its imagery of boots and shoes, of two people stepping in opposite directions, turns relational breakdown into something almost cinematic without ever losing its human core. The lyric “relationship been I told you so’s and we should’ve did it my way’s” lands with particular ache – it’s one of praise.’s personal favorites – capturing the exhaustion of hindsight and the weight of things left unsaid.

I don’t want you to go
I don’t know if we’re better if you stay
At least we could have hope
Relationship been I told you so’s
and we should’ve did it my way’s
Our house is not a home
And I don’t think I’ll find you here

And I put my boots on
Take a step, one after another
She puts her shoes on
She’s walking out, are we going together?
Are we going down, down, down?
Are we burning down, down, down, down?

There’s a lighter, hazier energy to “angel.,” though it’s no less intentional. Written quickly with the group KAIRO, the song comes together in a flash – fifteen minutes of shared momentum and instinct. It plays with temptation and self-awareness, acknowledging desire while recognizing its limits. The repeated refrain “I know I shouldn’t lead you on forever” doesn’t sound self-righteous; it sounds conflicted, honest about the gap between intention and action. On LOST,, “angel.” offers a moment of release without denying consequence.

“ride or die.” shifts the EP into a different pocket altogether. One of the first songs praise. made with producers Jimi and Milo, alongside Norwegian artist Tyr, it initially leaned fully into a dancehall feel before being reshaped into something lighter and more spacious. The final version glides on ease and chemistry, its warmth tempered by uncertainty. Even as praise. repeats “I don’t really fall in love,” the song betrays itself – lingering, hopeful, and open to being changed by connection.

With “guess you were right.,” praise. returns to sparse, gut-punch songwriting. Built around soft guitar chords and a soaring chorus, the song reads like a quiet send-off – a recognition that love, distance, and ambition don’t always coexist cleanly. “You said you couldn’t ever see yourself with an artist / ’Cause you know how the songs get,” he sings, the line landing heavier with each repetition. Written with Lizzy Cameron, the track excels at building an entire emotional world from small, specific moments – driving, remembering, resisting the urge to reach out. It’s resignation without bitterness, clarity without closure.

“In due time.” widens the emotional lens again. Praise.’s first collaboration with John Hill, the song is rooted in patience – not as passivity, but as trust in process. The repeated refrain “doesn’t feel right, but in due time” captures the EP’s broader philosophy: sometimes the only way forward is to let distance do its work. The song’s open, guitar-driven atmosphere reflects that mindset, giving space for reflection rather than resolution. For praise., the session itself mattered as much as the song – an environment focused purely on the work, pulling everything out of him without distraction.

The record closes with “calling out.,” praise.’s personal favorite and the emotional culmination of LOST,. From the moment it came together, he knew it would hold that place. The storytelling is potent and unguarded, filled with sensory details that feel lived-in rather than staged – sunsets not photographed, fragrances lingering, questions left unanswered. Even as his heart still aches, it doesn’t ache the way it once did. That distinction matters. “calling out.” doesn’t dramatize heartbreak; it accepts it, allowing memory and movement to coexist without demanding clarity.

I can′t be mad at what happened
Windows down, sun still beaming, I′m laughing
I still smell your fragrance
Hey, pretty girl, I’m in the hills
and I don′t got no service
Chilling outside of my manager’s house,
do you remember our first kiss?
And how you said, “With the distance,
Praise, this sh*t just won′t be easy”
We said we’ll still do it, don′t know
how that turned into you leaving me

Sunset looked so pretty,
I didn’t even take its picture
My heart still aches,
but not like when I was without ya

Calling out ya name, darling, can you hear me?
Don′t know where your heart went
I’m cool with it being a mystery

By the end of LOST,, praise. isn’t offering answers so much as presence. The EP finds meaning in the act of telling the truth while it’s still unfolding – in letting real names, real places, and real doubts live inside the music.

“I hope it invokes an emotion always, and I hope people relate as much as possible. But that’s also not my job, so I don’t worry too much about it,” praise. shares. “I just try to be the most creative and make sh*t that tells my truth.”

What he’s taken from the process is simple, but profound: “I love putting sh*t out. I love the feeling, and I can’t wait to keep telling the story.” LOST, doesn’t rush the journey back to yourself. It walks it – deliberately, openly, and without apology.

In that way, LOST, feels like more than a snapshot of where praise. is right now – it feels like a threshold. A moment where personal reckoning and artistic clarity finally align, not into certainty, but into trust: trust in instinct, in patience, in the idea that telling the truth as it unfolds is its own kind of arrival. The EP marks a quiet triumph – one earned not through reinvention, but through refinement, openness, and the courage to keep going even when the answers haven’t fully formed.

For listeners, LOST, is an invitation as much as it is a document. Its songs create space to sit with our own in-between moments – the pauses after impact, the stretches of uncertainty where meaning hasn’t revealed itself yet but still feels close. Praise. doesn’t rush us toward resolution; he walks alongside us, reminding us that growth often happens in fragments, that healing can be nonlinear, and that there is beauty in staying present with what still aches.

As LOST, reaches its final notes, it leaves behind a feeling rather than a conclusion – a sense of openness, of possibility, of motion continuing forward. It’s the sound of an artist stepping deeper into himself and, in doing so, offering listeners a gentler way to do the same. Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside praise.’s LOST, with Atwood Magazine as he takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of this beautiful EP!

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:: stream/purchase LOST, here ::

:: connect with praise. here ::

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Stream: ‘LOST,’ – praise.

:: Inside LOST, ::

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do i.

I started writing this song at home (Charlotte, NC) in a Playstation party and my friend T’sai was like, “that sounds pretty good.” Then we kept playing the game and it sat in my notes till I went to LA. The song at first was just me venting, and then my former A&R wanted it to feel more like a song and wanted it to go somewhere else. I’m always down to expand an idea, so that’s what we did. Me and Lizzy wrote the second half and made it the sonic experience that it is. I never knew it would be the intro to my project when I was writing it in the Playstation party but love that lol.

matters to me.

This song was not gonna be on the project and it was probably the LAST song we made that day after making four songs. It was not supposed to be this deep, fun, storytelling song. I was trying to make an intro for the album after LOST, and then Jimi and Milo added the 808 and other elements and I only had like four stanzas. The day after on the way to the studio I had headphones in, and I was making the rest of the song, and I took the let me say more and let me let people know, “hey this is who I am, where I’m from, and this what I been going through” AND IT MATTERS TO ME.

pilot.

This song was the quickest sh*t to make lol. I made it on live and everyone was like, “omg this song is so good” and I didn’t care about it, but just like matters to me., when I posted it on TikTok it went craaaazyyy and it had to be dropped. It went from being an album throwaway to a highlight and I’m grateful.

down down down.

I love this song, it’s my dad’s fav. This song was a freestyle which is crazyyyy, but it was recorded when the fires were happening in LA and it was my first time recording in my label’s studio. It felt really good to get out of the house and make something as strong as that.

angel.

A vibeeee. I wrote this with the group KAIRO and I love them boys honestly. They helped so much and we were making sh*t all day, and angel. was just a fifteen minute thing. Ugh sooo fun.

ride or die.

One of the first things I made with Jimi and Milo (my producers) and Tyr (an artist from Norway). It was a crazy dancehall-feeling record at first and then we changed it to fit a lighter pocket.

guess you were right.

Another one were Lizzy and I are just doing the damn thing. I love writing with her cause we speak on situations so well and build the world around the song so well.

in due time.

My first time working with John Hill and it was amazing. He reminds me of the days in my childhood when I worked at the radio station, and it was all about the work and nothing else. A laugh here, a chuckle and conversation there, but it’s such an environment that pulls everything outta you.

calling out.

My favorite song on this project. It’s the song that when we were making it, I knew it would be my favorite. The storytelling is so potent and so real.

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:: stream/purchase LOST, here ::

:: connect with praise. here ::

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 © Alex Figs

LOST,

an EP by praise.

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