Rising star Tristan stuns in latest EP “IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT”
JANUARY 23RD 2023 | MADISON NORTH
New year means new music and rising pop star Tristan just dropped her sophomore EP, IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT. Tristan released her debut EP, i hurt my own feelings back in 2022 and has been releasing heart wrenching hit after heart wrenching hit ever since. The overall sound and feel of IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT is more clean and has a more defined voice compared to the debut, Tristan truly proves why she is an artist to watch in this new year.
The tracklist for the EP consists of six songs, starting with “Keep That To Yourself”. “Keep That To Yourself” was the first single released off of the EP back in March of 2023. The song explores when a relationship ends and you run into the person you had feelings for and how part of you hopes they still have those feelings for you, but the other part hopes that if they do they don’t speak or act on it. Moving on is a hard thing to do and takes time, when someone has a hold on you, they know that any little thing they say or do can derail that process. It can also be hard to tell if their feelings are genuine or if they just don’t want to lose the power they have over you. “Keep That To Yourself” sets the tone for the entire EP and the theme of moving on and trying to gain closure.
We move on to the next track “BIG BABY!”, which is also the the last single to be released from IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT. The song is the most upbeat out of all the tracks and with its initial sound of various baby cries it’s the most experimental. Through “BIG BABY!” we also see a different, more nonchalant side to Tristan. The song is all about someone in your life who thinks essentially everything you do and say is about them, when in reality as Tristan puts it they’re not even a thought inside your head. Personally, I love this song and overall attitude of it and the empowerment you feel while listening to it.
The third song is “tough subject’ and the only tough thing about it is trying not to play it on a constant loop (trust me I’ve tried and it’s impossible). “tough subject” touches on a topic that we often don’t talk about out loud or at times really only tell our friends and even then it feels wrong. When the person we care about seems to have moved on it can be hard for us to accept, we also may wonder if our past relationship with them ever comes up (and secretly we hope that it does). We think that if it does get brought up or if it is a “tough subject” then it must have meant something and we didn’t just misconstrued everything. My favorite moment in the song is right before the lyric “when she walked in she lit up the room”, there is this sudden moment of silence almost and then it just hits, like an epiphany, the moment of knowing it’s over.
“Los Angeles (Interlude)” is the fourth track and is a very reflective one. Although it is quick, clocking in at a minute and twenty seconds, it tells a story about acceptance. Accepting that not everyone in your life is meant to stay in it and that sometimes doing what you love can feel lonely but at the end of the day it’s what you’re meant to do.
From “Los Angeles (Interlude)”, we move onto “Last Girl on Earth”, the second single from the EP. The song has a more whimsical, dystopian feel to it. Just like “tough subject” it has a very hard pill to swallow type of message. We like to believe that we think better of ourselves than to think we wouldn’t be ok with the bare minimum of someone wanting to be with us if we were the last people on Earth, when in reality that’s not the case. The opening line of the song “I’m in a mood to feel worthless again so I might call you” is so painfully relatable that it reels you in. While listening to “Last Girl on Earth” you can’t help but to reflect on your own choices and standards that you have for yourself.
The final song off of IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT is my personal favorite, “let’s hope I move on”. I’m gonna be honest, the first time I listened to this song I cried and you know what, that’s ok because sad music makes the world go round. Lyrically, the song is beautiful and it brings this sense of closure to not just only the listener, but to the entire EP as well. Accepting that a relationship is over or wasn’t meant to be is hard, especially when you still have feelings for them. The song ends with the lyrics “It’s been real. Love you still. Promise you won’t call. Let’s hope I move on”. Oftentimes, though hard, having no contact with the person you care for is the best way to get over them and once you realize this it makes the process easier.
The overall flow of IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT is consistent and tells a story of acceptance, closure, and moving on. We start off with “Keep That to Yourself”, a track that builds up to this aggressive, emotional blow up in the bridge, and we end on a softer, sadder note with “let’s hope I move on”. This perfectly symbolizes the moving on process, the anger we feel in the beginning, whereas by the end we are ready to accept a relationship for what it was and that person for who they are, our feelings for them aside it’s for the best that things have ended. Pop music is much more than catchy beats, it is also storytelling and with every track off of IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT, you can feel a story being told with emotion, in its entirety it feels like a personal journal entry you would share with your friends. Tristan has truly proven herself to be an artist to watch in this new year, and this EP solidifies that.
Listen to Tristan’s new EP ‘IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT’ below.