THE TOP 5 EPS OF 2021

In between singles and albums, the EP space allows for creative risks and focused songwriting; these are the five EPs that stuck with us in 2021.

5. Button Maker – Button Maker

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Appropriately self-titled, Button Maker’s best EP of 2021 was their definitive statement, a five track barn-burner that held up very well even when competing with so many other fantastic short releases. Clocking in at just over ten minutes, every moment of this project felt essential to the overall experience. ‘Arsonist’ is still as intense as it was the day that it dropped, ‘Better News’ is the cutest song of the year, and ‘Satellite’ is the faithful recreation of 2000’s alt rock trends that so many artists wish they could pull off. Button has had a great year, but this one still stands out to me as their most accomplished. If you have ten minutes for one of the best-produced, best-written and best-sung EPs of the year, you won’t be disappointed by Button Maker. – Chris (@malenchanted)

4. Itchy – Club Anthem

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Itchy has long been brilliant at playing with expectations. On “Icy Goblin”, his 2020 mixtape, hard-hitting rap production met off-kilter flows and uniquely tailored vocabulary. “Club Anthem” is far weirder, a parody of intoxication that quickly develops a contact high, getting more confusing and endearing as it goes on. The title track is the best on offer, but the whole EP is full of bouncy production and quality features. By the time we hear Konbini explaining her love for shoplifting on third track “Supermarket Sweep” normality has become a distant memory. – Jamie (@jadexhost)

This EP was the most fun I had listening to anything all year. Itchy churns out great hooks at the same pace most people breathe, and each of these tracks is amazingly catchy, sports gorgeous, gaudy production, and best of all doesn’t take itself too seriously. ‘Sup£r Mark£t Sw££p’ is a song that everybody should here, an anthem for crazy ass boys and girls that sees the northern English artist collaborate with his southern friend Konbini for the EP’s funniest moments and one of the most memorable of the year for me. Itchy is one to watch in the future, his output this year may have been minimal but every one of his releases has been carefully calculated. He makes us northerners proud, and I’m immensely happy that his music has such incredible replay value. – Chris (@malenchanted)

3. Jaydonclover – happier, but still sad

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Jaydonclover’s voice is a brittle and beautiful thing. On “happier, but still sad”, a two-track reflection on location, she’s in full control of this most stunning talent, balancing notes precisely on dark lo-fi production. “Housenohome”, with Black Josh, has Jaydon’s wandering voice come and go through the “place of residence” she feels so detached from. LADYBIRD follows, a spare and entrancing look at identity. “Would I care who they think I might be?” wonders Jaydon; she sounds ready to fly. – Jamie (@jadexhost)

2. Ecco2k – PXE

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PXE is the latest EP by Drain Gang member Ecco2k, released on March 31st of this year. He has taken steps to advance his sound after “e”, his delightful 2019 full-length LP that blended elements of cloud rap, alternative R&B, and glitzy pop music in a creative, yet pretty traditional manner. While “e” pushed the boundaries of the confines it was in, the self-produced PXE EP was never conceived with that metaphorical box in mind to attempt to work out of—it is described by Ecco himself as “pixie music”, an atmospheric, glitchy noise-pop record that features notable hyperpop and digicore influence in some of the production and vocal ideas scattered throughout the five tracks featured. With melancholic lyrics that—when decipherable—often refer to struggles with self-identity and feelings of dysphoria, it is not lost that the EP dropped on the international Transgender Day of Visibility, adding depth to the personal nature of the project as well as giving insight into Ecco’s mindset through this harsh, experimental, but outright catchy piece of self-expression. – Steve (@xoxoarctic)

1. 8485 – plague town

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8485’s debut EP is so expertly held together it’s difficult to believe. She weaves together complex stories and conflicting emotions to breathtaking effect, singing with total confidence and writing with unforgettable skill. Her anecdote on the second verse of “hangar” is rebellious, anxious, pained, and carefree; “I like to talk about the hospital and go when I don’t need it, just to show the world I feel it, I only ever did it once”. In perfect partnership with blackwinterwells, Eighty writes stories of teenage melodrama with razor detail. And this is just one track – the whole assortment, from “pure” to “purgatory”, are as ghostly and touching as pop music can be. “seer” has a special sense of momentum; “I press my face to the glass, all that I prayed for and asked, get just as close as I can then I am pulled away”. – Jamie (@jadexhost)

Indisputably the strongest moment of her career so far, Plague Town is contemplative, self-destructive and awe-inspiring. 8485 is an astonishingly good songwriter, each of her songs tapping into a well of potential unmatched by anyone else on her popularity level. Despite featuring a few different producers, (blackwinterwells being the primary force behind these beautiful beats) Plague Town feels incredibly cohesive and this is almost certainly due to 8485’s skill at assembling a project. As her first proper solo effort, it’s about as good as it conceivably could have been. I’ve always known that her singing was excellent, but there’s a real fragility to songs like ‘Seer’ and ‘Pure’ that I hadn’t heard in her music prior. and it permeates each of these tracks. ‘Pure’ in particular is jaw-dropping, an exploration of self-worth that occasionally touches on morbid territory but mostly deals with the same themes as the rest of the EP: nostalgia-soaked regret. For many though, ‘Southview’ will be the pull. This song is co-produced by Fish Narc, whose trademark guitar production is complemented perfectly by tear-stirring strings and eighty’s cathartic vocals. When things pick up in the latter half of the track it’s genuinely heartbreaking and the best example of why Plague Town is one of 2021’s definitive musical releases. – Chris (@malenchanted)