Important Music In My Life: EDEN - End Credits EP
Yes, welcome, welcome, dearest readers, to the first installment of Important Music In My Life, otherwise known as IMIML. This is basically the pilot episode of my hopefully consistent, long-lasting series where I basically review music whilst simultaneously talking about my life. Now you might be asking, 'ey mayn, what sort of qualifications do you have to be reviewing music?'
Well, I mean, I did graduate from music school and have the diploma to prove it. Eight long years, to get me one of those. But other than that? None, zip, nada. Most of my so called """review""" will mostly be my personal opinions, I'll slightly go on about the technicalities, but again, I'm not exactly an expert so don't expect too much.
Okay, enough jibber jabbers, I'll just start with the actual content and I'm sure it'll explain itself.
I hope, at least.
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| EDEN - End Credits EP Track list: 1. 2:09 2. End Credits (feat. Leah Kelly) 3. Gravity 4. Nocturne 5. Interlude 6. Wake Up 7. catch me if you can [Bonus Track] 8. End Credits (Instrumental) |
Listen on:
Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/iameden/sets/end-credits
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/5eESUGzjysOJC0S2y2KwYn
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Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/iameden/sets/end-credits
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/5eESUGzjysOJC0S2y2KwYn
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My favorite music artist. Jonathon Ng (a.k.a. EDEN, f.k.a. The Eden Project) is an Ireland based singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, alternative musician, basically what I've always wanted to be in life. Born on the 23rd of December 1995, he's been playing musical instruments since a young age. If I'm not mistaken, he started as a violinist, but then self-taught himself piano, guitar, and other instruments. Under the alias The Eden Project (2013-2015), he released 6 EPs and over 40 songs, but never a full-length project. He also did quite a number of collaborations with his close friend and fellow musician, Puppet (Brendan Baldwin), which I am also a fan of, but not as much. In 2015, however, he threw the alias The Eden Project straight into the bin and simply went with EDEN. He also went ahead and started his own record label, MCMXCV.
Now, I'll admit, I can't really classify myself as an "OG" fan of Jon, because I never really caught a whiff of his music until this EP in 2015. I'm not really familiar with his work under The Eden Project alias, aside from the collabs he did with Puppet. That being said, everything that came after this EP, that's a different story. So yeah, now that that's outta the way, let's move on.
I discovered EDEN back in 2015, when I was still a young, ambitious lad, interning at my old high school. The first song of his that I listened to wasn't even his version of the song, it was a remix. During one boring day at school, it just so happens that an artist I followed, Pierce Fulton, did a remix of Nocturne, one of the songs from the EP, and posted it on SoundCloud. So I gave it a listen, and I was thoroughly pleased. The remix is features a sweet, light-hearted guitar melodies, accompanied with similarly light-hearted beats. In some parts of the song, Pierce also made Jon's vocals a bit more grainy, perhaps to fit Pierce's electronic style. Overall, the song sounds like a happy, sunny day kinda song, and I enjoyed it. So naturally, I want to know what the original version sounds like.
And hot diggity damn, I was not ready for it. The song, and the EP in general, is far from the word 'happy'.
End Credits EP was Jon's first EP under the name EDEN. It was released back in August 2015, and was made available free to download. What makes this EP so good, in my opinion, is just how much of a rollercoaster ride it is. It started out soft, quiet, and discreet with the opening instrumental track "2:09", preparing the listeners for the coming tracks. The songs then build up in intensity until it reached "Nocturne", where at first I thought was the climax of the EP, thus why the next track is called "Interlude". And coming into "Interlude", I thought I was right, greeted by a piano melody in the first 37 seconds of the song, where it then goes back to a more familiar electronic-oriented sounds. Midway through, the song switches gears yet again, now featuring a heavier bassline and a slight distortion to Jon's voice, making the song sounds a bit more spacey and, well I wouldn't go as far as calling it psychedelic, but you get the picture.
The final song, "Wake Up", follows a similar formula, with the level of intensity upped a notch. The end bit of this song, my goodness, just a glaring orchestra of brass and strings, nothing short of a grand closing. And to top it all off, the bonus track "catch me if you can" snaps the listeners back to reality, after being taken on a dream-like journey. With the soft, unfiltered, lo-fi sound of Jon's vocals and acoustic guitar melody, this piece feels very raw, intimate, and certainly calming.
End Credits (and the rest of EDEN's discography, as a matter of fact) has a hint of sad boy aesthetics to it. However, unlike other "sad" artists like Lil Peep, XXXTentacleporn, $UICIDEBOY$, which I am indifferent toward, EDEN is way more low-key, more subtle, basically he doesn't sound like he's being sad for the fashion of it. It's not exactly "i'M saD aLL tHe tIeM, I'm sO dEpreSsED, nO oNE UNdeRsTAndS mE huUrrrRRrrR duRrrRRRR" type of sad, EDEN feels more like "I'd much rather play Super Smash Bros. with my bros rather than going out on Saturday nights" type of sad, you feel me? And I think that's partly why I find this EP so great.
(ps: if you happen to like those artists, that's great. I have nothing against them and/or your taste in music, I'm just saying that particular type of music is not my cup of tea)
Now, as to what made this EP so special to me, I think it's just because I felt like End Credits was a perfect rendition of my life at that time. From what I get, the main narrative of this EP is "going full speed, all the way, doing and getting what we want while we're young and time is of the essence". It's reflected from a lot of the lyrics of the songs, like on "End Credits" where Jon wrote "rather burnout young than grow up fast". He also wrote things like running away with, who I can only assume, his significant other. "Chasing dreams like I'm on novocaine" is also another good one, though nowadays, the word "novocaine" or any other anesthetic is a bit overused, which is a shame, but heyho.
And back then, in 2015, I had just met Agar (the girl I met on Tinder, you can read about her here), and...well, y-yeah, you know where this is going. If you didn't know, or had forgotten, I'll give a little background. In that period of time, I had just moved past the "dark ages", which is a term my close friends and I used to describe the aftermath of a break-up. I was on an up and up, I was no longercrying myself to sleep bothered by the existence of my past romantic partner, but being the needy boy that I was, I was practically flailing desperately for anything I could cling onto. So when Agar came into the picture, especially after we both confessed that we had mutual feelings for one another, I just floored it, pedal to the metal, especially knowing the fact that in a matter of months, I'll be off to Hentai Land. I even got to know her small circle of friends, and do you know how weird of an experience that was for me? Being introduced to people you had never met by someone you hadn't met. Luckily enough, I was somewhat accepted, I think???? I dunno, I really hope so. I mean, they didn't spit in my face or anything like that, so, you know, that's good enough for me.
But yeah, I was so desperate to be in a new relationship that at the time, I couldn't give less of a care about what's gonna happen in the long run. What I'm saying here is that I wanted to crash and burn, really. And End Credits painted all my feelings, my current situation, and imaginary scenarios, all too perfectly. The build up of wanting to do everything before I leave, "End Credits" and "Gravity". The momentary feeling of bliss and cloud nine, where everything just seemed to be falling into place perfectly and I had all the positivity in the world, "Nocturne". The realization, feeling helpless, uneasy feeling not knowing what else to do, "Interlude". The hope for being wanted to stay when you leave, and ultimately faced with reality, "Wake Up". And last, but definitely not least, scared of what to come, wanting to stay in that moment of time, or better yet, going back in time, "catch me if you can".
To this day, listening to this EP still opens the feel-floodgates in my brain, sometimes sending a slight shiver down my spine. In hindsight, not going into a relationship with Agar was a good choice. Because if I did, I might not be able to enjoy this EP anymore, or any other EDEN releases.
So, if I have to give it a score, since it's aged quite well for me, I'd give it a ummm...
9.3/10
End Credits EP was Jon's first EP under the name EDEN. It was released back in August 2015, and was made available free to download. What makes this EP so good, in my opinion, is just how much of a rollercoaster ride it is. It started out soft, quiet, and discreet with the opening instrumental track "2:09", preparing the listeners for the coming tracks. The songs then build up in intensity until it reached "Nocturne", where at first I thought was the climax of the EP, thus why the next track is called "Interlude". And coming into "Interlude", I thought I was right, greeted by a piano melody in the first 37 seconds of the song, where it then goes back to a more familiar electronic-oriented sounds. Midway through, the song switches gears yet again, now featuring a heavier bassline and a slight distortion to Jon's voice, making the song sounds a bit more spacey and, well I wouldn't go as far as calling it psychedelic, but you get the picture.
The final song, "Wake Up", follows a similar formula, with the level of intensity upped a notch. The end bit of this song, my goodness, just a glaring orchestra of brass and strings, nothing short of a grand closing. And to top it all off, the bonus track "catch me if you can" snaps the listeners back to reality, after being taken on a dream-like journey. With the soft, unfiltered, lo-fi sound of Jon's vocals and acoustic guitar melody, this piece feels very raw, intimate, and certainly calming.
End Credits (and the rest of EDEN's discography, as a matter of fact) has a hint of sad boy aesthetics to it. However, unlike other "sad" artists like Lil Peep, XXXTentacleporn, $UICIDEBOY$, which I am indifferent toward, EDEN is way more low-key, more subtle, basically he doesn't sound like he's being sad for the fashion of it. It's not exactly "i'M saD aLL tHe tIeM, I'm sO dEpreSsED, nO oNE UNdeRsTAndS mE huUrrrRRrrR duRrrRRRR" type of sad, EDEN feels more like "I'd much rather play Super Smash Bros. with my bros rather than going out on Saturday nights" type of sad, you feel me? And I think that's partly why I find this EP so great.
(ps: if you happen to like those artists, that's great. I have nothing against them and/or your taste in music, I'm just saying that particular type of music is not my cup of tea)
Now, as to what made this EP so special to me, I think it's just because I felt like End Credits was a perfect rendition of my life at that time. From what I get, the main narrative of this EP is "going full speed, all the way, doing and getting what we want while we're young and time is of the essence". It's reflected from a lot of the lyrics of the songs, like on "End Credits" where Jon wrote "rather burnout young than grow up fast". He also wrote things like running away with, who I can only assume, his significant other. "Chasing dreams like I'm on novocaine" is also another good one, though nowadays, the word "novocaine" or any other anesthetic is a bit overused, which is a shame, but heyho.
And back then, in 2015, I had just met Agar (the girl I met on Tinder, you can read about her here), and...well, y-yeah, you know where this is going. If you didn't know, or had forgotten, I'll give a little background. In that period of time, I had just moved past the "dark ages", which is a term my close friends and I used to describe the aftermath of a break-up. I was on an up and up, I was no longer
But yeah, I was so desperate to be in a new relationship that at the time, I couldn't give less of a care about what's gonna happen in the long run. What I'm saying here is that I wanted to crash and burn, really. And End Credits painted all my feelings, my current situation, and imaginary scenarios, all too perfectly. The build up of wanting to do everything before I leave, "End Credits" and "Gravity". The momentary feeling of bliss and cloud nine, where everything just seemed to be falling into place perfectly and I had all the positivity in the world, "Nocturne". The realization, feeling helpless, uneasy feeling not knowing what else to do, "Interlude". The hope for being wanted to stay when you leave, and ultimately faced with reality, "Wake Up". And last, but definitely not least, scared of what to come, wanting to stay in that moment of time, or better yet, going back in time, "catch me if you can".
To this day, listening to this EP still opens the feel-floodgates in my brain, sometimes sending a slight shiver down my spine. In hindsight, not going into a relationship with Agar was a good choice. Because if I did, I might not be able to enjoy this EP anymore, or any other EDEN releases.
So, if I have to give it a score, since it's aged quite well for me, I'd give it a ummm...
9.3/10
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