About six months ago, teen songwriter Tish Melton released her debut single “Michelle,” a cool Americana number bolstered by the production work and creative support of mentor Brandi Carlile. It wasn’t long after that news of a debut EP would be on its way, with the fully Carlile-produced When We’re Older finally dropping tomorrow via CMDSHFT. The release includes “Michelle,” along with additional pre-released singles “The Chase,” a rousing indie-rock number that opens the collection, and “Damage,” which takes the form of a sparse piano ballad before opening up to an emotional orchestral piece in its final two minutes.
Additional tracks “Long Drive” and “Sober” only serve to diversify When We’re Older, as the former takes the shape of a downcast late-’90s pop-rock radio single, the latter a tender send-off to the collection wherein Melton pleads for friends to stay sober in order to remember the good times. As Carlile notes, much of the EP calls back to bygone eras that are slowly seeping back into mainstream music. “My favorite thing [about working on the EP] was excitedly trying to explain that all the ‘new sounds’ Tish was into were actually the sounds of my city [Seattle] when I was exactly her age,” she explained. “A wonderful artist can plug you back into past parts of yourself you maybe should’ve stayed connected to?”
With the EP finally out tomorrow, we’ve got a full track-by-track breakdown of the release courtesy of Melton. Additionally, we’re getting a first look at the visuals for both new tracks, effectively making the full release available to hear a day early. Check it all out below.
1. “The Chase”
“The Chase” is angsty and petty and teenage at its core—pretty much an ode to someone who doesn’t care enough to return your calls or return your affection. I call it the angry stage of a breakup, because you’ve been so blindsided by your admiration and adoration of a person that you didn’t realize the way they’ve been treating you. You want to kick yourself for letting yourself be treated this way and for not understanding that you were until now. In writing this song, I realized that it’s not worth pursuing someone who won’t give you the time and attention that you deserve, and I returned back to who I know and what I know.
We recorded “The Chase” at Shangri-La in Malibu and at Brandi’s home studio in Seattle. We muffled the electric guitar as much as we could to make it sound as messy as possible—just like a teenage breakup.
2. “Michelle”
If Michelle is a star, the narrator of this song is an onlooker. If Michelle is the sun, the narrator is a planet revolving around her and relying on her to supply sunlight and life. “Michelle” is about caring for someone so much that you change yourself in drastic ways to impress them—giving up your Sunday mornings and Saturday nights—but still, your love is not reciprocated. This song is honest and vulnerable, a simple confession from someone who’s beginning to realize that the distance from themselves and Michelle may be their fault. This song isn’t a plea to win Michelle back, it’s the narrator coming to terms with the fact that things will never be the same.
Not much was changed from the original demo of “Michelle,” and the doubled-vocals add to the illusion that the narrator has created: there are two versions of themselves—both created to win Michelle over—but neither represent who the narrator actually is. The split-screen concept of the music video illustrates this double-life, and both Saturday night and Sunday morning take place in the most sacred location of all teenagers: their bedroom.
3. “Long Drive”
I was driving home from school on PCH and looked over to the passenger seat of my car. It was empty, and I was alone. I realized that I was the age I used to fantasize about being when I was a little girl—the age that I figured I would have everything figured out by. I started crying and had to pull over to the side of the road because, quite literally, my big brown eyes were too blurry to see in front of me. I wrote “Long Drive” then and there about being scared to grow up and the inevitability of it anyway.
At about 3 a.m. on the last night of recording, we had “Long Drive” almost completed in the studio and it was just down to last-minute harmonies and vocals. Brandi got in the booth and laid down some harmonies for the first chorus and onward that she thought would be cool for me to try myself. When we played back the harmonies with my lead vocals, it started to sound like a conversation. In the bridge of the song, I’m recalling experiences I had as a little kid—spilling drinks in our minivan, chasing raindrops on our car window—and I eventually say I want to be “more like you.” With Brandi’s added vocals, it sounds like I’m speaking to her—like I want to be just like her and learn from her, which is exactly what I’m doing now.
4. “Damage”
I wrote “Damage” when I was in a really bad place. I was confused and disoriented, obsessed with someone who couldn’t give me what I wanted and willing to be treated in any way for just a little bit of their time. Looking back on it, I don’t regret the experience. I think it perfectly encapsulates first love—reciprocated or not. “Damage” is lonely and desperate. Simply put, it’s everything that the hard parts of love bring.
I originally wrote it on guitar, but we changed it to piano when we got in the studio. I was extremely sick when doing the vocals, and we were sure that the ones we laid down would be scrap vocals. We ended up keeping all of the originals, because of how soft and how full of desperation my voice sounds. In case you’re wondering, this situation never truly got resolved and I’m pretty sure I’m still in love with this person, which is why the song still feels so vulnerable to me.
5. “Sober”
The long instrumental after the bridge feels like my entire high school experience encapsulated into a minute and a half of music. When I listen, I think about sleepovers and dinners and late-night conversations. I think about the experiences that I still remember vividly that made me who I am. The speaking at the end is me introducing myself to the world through a poem, and Brandi responding with lyrics from one of her favorite musicians—you can figure that out if you’d like.
