It’s hard to follow a single artist and track all their new music over the course of their career. Back in 2017, I listened to SOMA‘s Somablu and missed that over the years, she’s consistently released new singles and EPs during that time. Moth is her 2023 EP and my return to her music.
Moth is a six-song EP and since I haven’t listened to her music between Somablu and this EP, I can’t really tell how much she’s changed during that time. But “Moth to a Flame” is an atmospheric, moody opener and a track I enjoy. It’s got a minimalistic instrumentation with more of a background pulse supporting SOMA’s vocals. The song pulls you down into this different audioverse.
Adding an interlude right after is a weird choice because it resets your mind. In a way, adding the interlude here gives Moth the feeling that it’s connected to previous releases and this continues a setup narrative. If you’ve been wondering about the type of music SOMA creates, it is R&B and soul music. “Floriography” proves this fact. The slow tempo, warm melodies, and specific percussion sample check all the boxes for the genre and SOMA’s vocals glide across each verse.
This section of Moth proves how comfortable SOMA is within her chosen genre. “Habit” has a similar style to “Floriography” and explores the same general audio landscape. In some ways, it’s almost too close to the previous song. This happens again in “How It Feel.” The problem is that SOMA favors a specific piano arrangement and uses a one-step difference which makes these three songs all have a similar arrangement. I wouldn’t say they’re copies, but theme variations.
If the tracks were separated, there wouldn’t be such a close recognition in the song composition. Closing Moth is a song in a totally different style. “Gone” is a stripped-back track with acoustic guitar and piano. It sounds closer to a soundtrack song mixed with ballad pop. It’s a nice switch from the other songs and actually a style that I’d like to hear more.
SOMA’s EP is a good addition to her discography and a noticeable step up from Somablu. Now I have to listen to music in between and see where and how the progression was made. Moth has a lot of good ideas but the three middle tracks that sound similar derail the experience a bit.
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