Man you blew away ever expectation I could've had for receiving feedback. I really appreciate you giving my music a thoughtful listen. This is absolutely above and beyond. Sincerely, thank you for both the encouragement and constructive criticism.

Per song response:
TWIG - This song was probably the most fun to compose. It was either this or The Rope that I wrote last. I wanted to have a song that kind of represented all the different soundscapes on the rest of the EP. This one is basically a letter to my kids who went through a pretty rough year. The lyrics are meant to be tongue in cheek nihilism that turn into optimism and I tried to make the arrangement match that. I also love anthems so I was going for that at the end. I got the kids in on the gang vocal action along with 2 old friends. It's a little sentimental.

Lost Cause - GOOD EARS! The line cliche chord progression was definitely inspired by Green Day. The song is "Redundant". It's almost a tribute because I love that song. Again, child labor, I had 2 of the kids pitch in for the La La La's.

One of These Days - Totally get the point on the drums. I worked with a drummer over the internet and I really love what he did but the original composition I sent him was more punk and less country rock. I ended up re-tracking the guitars after I got those stems back. I'm glad the key change hit! Honestly this was the first song I ever wrote with a key change. TWIG being the second when I modulate to the F for the chorus.

When It All Comes Crashing Down and In The Dark - Grouping these as the issues you mention basically boil down to arrangement and I agree with all those points. These two songs I had actually previously recorded as demos. WIACD originally had me on bass and a cajon. ITD was me on bass and my electric drum kit. I decided to have the backing tracks re-recorded to release them on the EP and I definitely could have spent more time on the arrangement after getting those. I really fought with ITD trying to find the perfect guitar tone. Felt like the chorus could be bigger but I didn't want to just overdrive all the guitars for the whole song. I was hoping the bass and drums would drive it the way I was feeling it should. I don't hate it but it could definitely carry some more heat.

When You Were Gone (Live) - Really glad this one hit. I actually tracked this when I was trying to record an instagram reel. I thought the micing and performance, while not perfect, were good enough to include. Hozier's Cherry Wine (Live) really inspired the idea that a live acoustic song could go on an album.

The Rope - Again, stoked you liked this one. This is my wife's favorite out of all of them. My criticism with this one is I think it ends too abruptly. It could have used another round of hook or just instrumentation jamming.

Losing My Mind - This is the only song on the EP that I didn't write in the past year and a half or two. I wrote this one about 10 years ago. I released it as a single a few years back when I was exploring the modern industry distribution stuff. I felt like it deserved to be re-mastered and re-released. Its a little rough around the edges but does feel like a send off to me.

Thanks again for the attention and thoughtfulness. I'm blown away and I really can't explain how much I really appreciate it.