As I have stated on this blog in the past, Tik Tok has become one of the best ways for new up-and-coming artists to get exposure. There are so many popular artists(such as PinkPantheress and Ice Spice, for example) who have gone viral on that app and have had their careers blossom and thrive because of their success there. I have discovered so many great artists on Tik Tok to cover on this blog over the last couple of years. One of my favorite musicians I have come across on Tik Tok in the last year or so is Juliet Ivy. If you were following Eastside Vibes near the end of 2023, you probably know about my appreciation for this artist. She quickly became my favorite Indie Pop star on the rise; I even got my mom to check her out with me for a video, and my mom loved her music just as much as I did. Juliet Ivy has not been putting out music for very long, but she is already making a pretty big impact. She released a few one-off singles between 2021 and 2023 before dropping her first EP, playpen, near the end of 2023. This EP spawned the single ‘we’re all eating each other,’ whose playful yet insightful lyrics and mesmerizing sound made it super popular on Tik Tok. I enjoyed this single so much that I decided to cover this EP on Eastside Vibes in both blog and YouTube form. I am glad ‘we’re all eating each other’ inspired me to listen to playpen because it ended up being my favorite EP of 2023 and one of my favorite projects of the year, period. Juliet Ivy has now returned with her second EP, tiny but scary, which was preceded by the singles ‘is it my face?’ and ‘4 foot 2.’ With that being said, here is how I feel about Juliet Ivy’s tiny but scary. Please let me know in the comments below how you feel about this EP, and also comment the names of any other up-and-coming Indie artists you think I should check out!
‘4 foot 2,’ which was the second single released before tiny but scary came out, is the track that gets the project started. This song has a Country Pop sound that is very charming. This song makes me think of the Folk-tinted Country music that was made popular by artists like The Zac Brown Band and Little Big Town in the mid to late 2000s. The guitar riff that drives this track is very cozy, and the string instruments and synths that complement it make it full. The beat for ‘4 foot 2’ is soft but is still a toe-tapper that can get you moving. Juliet Ivy’s tone and flow on this track are so nice and add so much to the already pacifying sound this song has. I especially enjoy the humming on the hook, as it is so soothing. On ‘4 foot 2,’ Juliet Ivy sings about and to her younger self, trying to be proud about how far she has come and realized that harming herself is harming the little, innocent girl she used to be. The lead single of this EP, ‘is it my face?’ comes next. This song did have a good amount of viral success, but not nearly as much as ‘we’re all eating each other’ did. I am honestly kind of surprised this one did not pick up more than it did because everything about it feels like it should be a Tik Tok hit. ‘is it my face?’ has a super catchy melody and beat. The instrumentation on this one is pretty simple, but it is such an earworm. The melody and beat are just so sticky, in my opinion. Juliet Ivy’s delicate vocals on ‘is it my face?’ are so sugary and add to the song’s welcoming sound. ‘is it my face?’ has a sad yet relatable lyrical sentiment. On this one, Juliet Ivy wonders why she can not attract who she wants or make friends. She wonders if it is the way she looks that is driving everyone away from her. The retro Country Pop feeling that we got on the first track returns on ‘kid.’ The melody that drives this track is bright and twangy; the banjo that comes in and out has just a campfire feeling to it. The beat on ‘kid’ is calmer than the first two tracks; it has a very relaxing tempo. The mix on this instrumental is very interesting, though, and makes it stand out. There are quirky synths that come in and out and give the melody texture, and the distortion on the melody and drums give the track a trace of roughness I appreciate. Juliet Ivy’s vocals on ‘kid’ are so pretty; her high pitch and soft delivery match the emotional sentiment of the track so nicely. On ‘kid,’ Juliet Ivy sings about her mother, showing her appreciation and love for the person who brought her into the world and raised her.
‘sweet dreams’ is a song that changes up the energy a bit from what we got on the first three tracks. This song is a bit faster and more punchy than what precedes it. I appreciate the change of tempo and level of emphasis, and it gives this EP a bit of juice. ‘sweet dreams’ does have elements that help it relate to the songs before it, though. The melody for this song does still have a bit of a Country Folk twang, especially through the banjo that comes in and out. The tone of the melody and the beat for ‘sweet dreams’ make me think of Y2K Pop music though. The song has a shimmering, glitchy quality that reminds me of the iconic Pop from that time. Juliet Ivy’s vocals on ‘sweet dreams’ are strong yet sweet. They match the more pushy sound of the instrumental without losing her charm at all. On ‘sweet dreams,’ Juliet Ivy once again sings about and to her younger self, acknowledging how far she has come and remembering some of the sorrow and pain she used to feel. Juliet Ivy closes out this EP with what is probably its most calm and stripped-back song in ‘girl talk.’ For most of this song, the instrumentation is pretty simple. The beat does not kick in until the end of the track, and the melody mostly consists of a guitar riff. Some other string instruments do appear here and there to give the track some texture, though. Like the rest of the EP, the melody has a balmy Country Folk theme to it. Juliet Ivy’s vocals on ‘girl talk’ are especially quaint and make this song super tranquil. On ‘girl talk,’ Juliet Ivy sings about her self-doubt and how her best friend motivates her and inspires her to look past this self-doubt and try to be her confident self.
When Juliet Ivy released playpen, I thought its simplicity and its charm made it so appealing. Lyrically and sonically it is straightforward, yet has a complexity and eccentricity that makes it unique. In those terms, I think that Juliet Ivy captures this again on tiny but scary. The lyrics are relatable and moving; the instrumentation is unornamented but has idiosyncrasies that make it stand out. Admittedly, though, I am not the biggest fan of the style of Country-Folk music that drives this EP, so its sound is not as much for me. I think I was attracted to playpen more because I just enjoy that kind of Alt-Pop music more. I can certainly appreciate this EP’s quality for what it is, though. I respect and commend Juliet Ivy’s willingness to go in a different direction and I think she does nail it. Juliet Ivy shows some diversity in her sound with this EP while keeping the elements that make her music so appealing. tiny but scary is another very good addition to Juliet Ivy’s growing discography and it makes me excited to see her continue to ascend and thrive.
EAST SIDE VIBES 