I mostly enjoy acoustic albums during my cruising time to work by bike. I can't explain what makes the acoustic sounds special when you listen to it in the morning. Maybe I'm a typical kind of guy who is slow to wake up and acoustic tunes are perfect to build up my mood. Graduation Speech is a moniker project initiated by Kevin Day of Aspiga. Well to know him, I can actually start with Aspiga's record that was put out by Asian Man Records. Yes it's a split release with their New Jersey fellas, By Surprise. That on, I started to get fond of their sound and maybe what's the best from Aspiga is Kevin's songwriting signature style.
Graduation Speech seems to be a solo project that is continuously growing -- as I can see that no further works done by Aspiga since their last stuff put out by A-F Records. Graduation Speech actually has had my attention since he put out his first record entitled Quiet & Calm in 2017. I quietly missed a bit as this moniker put out their second EP in 2019 entitled Maintenance Required and suddenly I just checked the Bandcamp page: Graduation Speech put out its latest EP this year on May.
This latest EP is put out by a humble Midwest label, Jetsam Flotsam. The EP Controlled Burn satisfies what I expect from Graduation Speech's music. The EP offers you a chill acoustic tune with a more hearty touch on its lyrical theme. It is a fitting tune for your reflective hour. And to be honest, this kind of simple instrumentation (guitar-piano thing with no full-band songs) fulfills my expectation. The EP offers you a strong sense of melodious songwriting with a chilling vibe all over the record.
The EP is opened by a track called "Climb". The strumming guitar with Kevin's double-layered vocal meets the companion rhythm guitar, shaping a strong songwriting character in the song. The rhythm guitar actually is not a kind of pattern that Kevin has put out before. Yes it surprised me a lot. Damn fine first track.
The second track called "Patterns" shows Kevin's songwriting's signature. The piano fills in between create a reflective vibe all over the song. The outro also stands out, where Kevin's harmony creates a great melodious addition for the song.
The next highlighted song is "Collar Bone". The guitar strumming in the beginning reminds me of Dashboard Confessional tunes. But the chorus part is what makes it special: it contains a lovely vocal melody that is accompanied by a piano fill, which creates a more emotive vibe.
And then "Destined" closes the EP with a sweet punch. It's actually a song that has similar vibes with "Patterns", using those piano fills on its chorus. The repetition on the last seconds of the EP makes a great emotive highlight. The chorus line "Are we destined to end up like them" easily sneaks into my head and gets stuck.
It's a chill and recommended record to check out. I would place this tune as my weekend tunes. You know, when it's Sunday and 08.00 PM, the time where you can set up yourself on the bed and it's a fit soundtrack that accompany you on such moment.
