Finding comfort in the in-between is among life’s trickiest trials — and so Blair Lee is here to help. The Toronto alt-pop star shared her aptly-titled sophomore EP LIMBO today (April 19), a follow up on 2022’s The Puppy Game. Making expert use of her six-track release to build up her ’90s-tinged pop rock sound to a bigger, more confident level, Lee manages to maintain momentum while simultaneously keeping things polished and fresh.
Sonically, LIMBO balances between past and present, with aforementioned ’90s influences pushing and pulling on her contemporary, raw songwriting. Opener “Underdog” calls back to The Puppy Game in both its canine title and its sparse instrumentation, relying mainly on Lee, a guitar, and a brief whistle interlude. Meanwhile, “Don’t Wanna Leave” is a more traditionally-layered pop rock track, with a central drumkit and additional flourishes thanks to distorted background vocals reminiscent of a forgotten voicemail. EP highlight “Bergamot” is a hair tougher-sounding, with shoegaze-adjacent guitar coupled perfectly behind Lee’s cool vocal delivery.
While doing all of this, Lee really leans into her belief that “even the heaviest subjects can float.” “Don’t Wanna Leave” superficially sounds like the cliched story of a perfect night out at a party — but upon further inspection, feels almost self-destructive. It’s a beautiful reflection on a universally-understood tough moment, a songwriting strength that Lee carries throughout the rest of the EP.
“LIMBO is all about the in-between, indecision, looping, stalling, being stuck,” Lee says.
Dive in and get unstuck below.