Tiny Little Houses‘ blend of folk and indie rock has continuously grown on me. I have listened to “Every Man Has His Plague; And You Are Mine” countless times, soaking in its soaring misery with the same intensity it gives off. When it came up on a random shuffle of my iTunes library again earlier this year, I kept coming back to it and hoping for more. Luckily, this was a year of much more for Caleb Karvountzis and the rest of Melbourne’s Tiny Little Houses.
A collection of new songs and a record label brought together their You Tore Out My Heart EP just as our seemingly endless, northern hemisphere summer came to a close. Four tracks all tied together by the gentle release of pain, the EP takes on different tempos and soft sounds in an effort to eradicate what can only be described as heartbreak at its core. A friendly collision of electric guitars drive the subtle twang of Karvountzis’ voice as it glides through longing lyrics. It’s an oddly comforting grouping of songs that seek and find solace within themselves despite their dark tones.
“Easy” is sonically suited to its name. A detailed story of love and loss that terminated in Melbourne’s Luna Park, it hurts until that female-vocal backed chorus intrudes to provide a needed burst of hope that shoots into a sputtering guitar solo. Karvountzis is amid an existential crisis in the lead track, “Soon We Won’t Exist.” He confronts his pessimistic pondering with resilient chord progressions. The EP’s titular track, “You Tore Out My Heart” resolves all the welling feelings of the preceding songs in a passive declaration of cessation, swelling ever-so-slowly in a sway of patient guitar riffs.
For its consistently soothing nature and promising appeal, the You Tore Out My Heart EP has become one of my favorite things to listen to from the whole year. Don’t finish the year without giving it at least one listen yourself.
Favorite Track: All of them.
