Intimate, ambient, and hypnotic, Mini Trees’ sophomore EP ‘Slip Away’ is a sun-kissed set of indie pop songs ready to soundtrack a hot and heavy summer.
Stream: ‘Slip Away’ – Mini Trees
Mini Trees’ new record is a cool sip of iced tea on a hot summer day; it’s the kind of immersive, refreshing experience you can enjoy alone or share with friends. Intimate, ambient, and hypnotic, Slip Away EP is a sun-kissed set of songs ready to soundtrack a hot and heavy summer.
You said I missed my step
That I’m gonna slip away
It’s hard enough to keep a straight face and
Tell you not to worry
But your direction changed
Was it something I said
That made you clam up again
I know you tried your best
Losing my head, circling the drain
Stumbling, hating myself again (hating myself again)
I know it’s why the patterns look the same
I’ve seen it all before, it leaves me wanting more
Independently released May 29, 2020, Mini Trees’ Slip Away EP arrived into a world swept up in coast-to-coast Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As the past month’s unrest moves into a period of engaged discussion and we begin seeing movement toward some long-overdue reforms, our national attention seems to be dividing once again, with coronavirus numbers and updates coming in one ear and a litany of one-off news clippings the other. After a period of intensely focused energies, life is resuming its rollercoaster ride. Summer 2020 promises to be a splintered and messy affair, but at the very least we will have plenty of dazzling songs to get us through whatever heat waves come our way – including the five tracks off Mini Trees’ aptly-titled Slip Away.
After introducing her artistry with waves harmony-laden and reverb-drenched music in 2018, Los Angeles-based musician Lexi Vega (aka Mini Trees) released her debut EP Steady Me in mid-2019. Produced by Jon Joseph, the five-track indie pop set is an ethereal indulgence, and a fine introduction to Vega’s creative mind. Arriving just over a year later, Slip Away builds upon its predecessor with a more expansive sound. Working once again with Jon Joseph, Mini Trees uses fewer guitar and vocal effects on her second set, singing hot on the mic and letting her guitar work ring out naturally into the ether.
“The collection of five songs acts as a series of vulnerable confessions and cathartic realizations,” the artist shared upon the EP’s recent release. Self-describing her arrangements of “playful guitar melodies, earthy percussion, and lush vocal harmonies,” Mini Trees beams with the confidence of an artist who is confident in and excited to share her voice with the world.
There is no better way to get acquainted with her work than through Slip Away‘s pulsing title track. A colorful, intimate outpouring of inner thoughts, “Slip Away” brings hard feelings to the surface with seamless ease. “Losing my head, circling the drain, stumbling, hating myself again,” the artist sings, her words melting over sweet guitars and peppy drums.
The EP follows this theme of confessional lyricism and evocative musicianship through to its finish, giving us moments to dance to and dwell in along the way. Whether you find your zen within the feverish folds of “Garden” or the lush soundscapes around “April” and “Want Me to Stay,” Mini Trees creates in her art a space that feels all our own: It’s music to sink into and music to slip away with.
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Mini Trees’ Slip Awayqq EP with Atwood Magazine as Lexi Vega goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her sophomore EP!
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:: stream/purchase Slip Away here ::
Stream: ‘Slip Away’ – Mini Trees
:: Inside Slip Away ::
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Slip Away
“Slip Away” is an internal dialogue about struggling with self-acceptance, and how, despite my best efforts to fill life with distractions, the unsettling feeling of self-loathing kept finding its way back to the surface. Despite its melancholy tone it was a fun song to write because it kinda of broke out of the usual downtempo / ambient feel of my other songs and instead has a more bubbly and upbeat rhythm. When we were recording it, a friend had come by the studio and jokingly commented, “wow you finally wrote a happy song!” Ironically my “happiest” sounding song is a song about self-loathing but in a way it excited me that she reacted that way because it meant that the song struck a contrast that I love: dancey and catchy, but makes you a little sad.
Garden
While most of the EP is reflective about my own experiences, Garden is about witnessing someone I care deeply about struggle with intense anxiety. It’s about wishing you could take away their pain or take it upon yourself instead, but realizing that in those moments there’s really not much you can do, which can be a pretty helpless feeling.
There are a lot of themes of mental health on the EP, and while it’s a heavy subject I think it’s been therapeutic to process this way. Oftentimes verbalizing those darker issues can help take the power out of them a little, at least that’s been my experience. I do hope that others who struggle with their mental health can feel a little less alone when they listen as well.
Want Me to Stay
WMTS is written about a past friendship in which I had deeper feelings for the other person but knew they would never feel the same. I’ve drawn from that experience when writing previous songs too, I think because of how it related to larger questions surrounding my identity. Even though I’ve lost touch with the other person and really don’t think of them anymore, that larger experience of what I learned about myself and what I was going through internally has always stuck with me. It really became about so much more than an individual person.
April
I wrote this song literally in April of last year, and it was a placeholder name for a while until I realized how much the song had to do with that specific time of my life and decided to keep the name. I’ve always had a sense of fear when thinking about the uncertainty of the future, and maybe just a fear of “growing up”, but I was especially feeling that way during that month or so. Rather than trying to deal with or understand that fear I just kept looking for ways to distract myself, but in doing so allowed those feelings to fester. That’s kind of mimicked in the song too … dynamically it keeps kinda growing into chaos.
Honestly
“Honestly” made a lot of sense as the final track on the EP. Thematically, it ties the collection of 5 songs together, and is meant to give a slight sense of resolution even though it ends with a series of questions. While the other tracks confess feelings of longing & emptiness, “Honestly” is the realization that what I’m looking for to fill that emptiness wouldn’t truly satisfy it, and it forces me to deal with the issue of why I’m wanting. This was also the last song that was written and recorded for the EP, and the lyrics came together organically because I was coming to that conclusion in my life at that time.
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:: stream/purchase Slip Away here ::
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