MARS ASPEN’S BABY TEETH EP, OUT TODAY VIA TWIN FANG RECORDS
BUY / STREAM BABY TEETH EP HERE
WATCH / SHARE “I’D LIKE TO STAY MAD” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) HERE
Photo Credit: Oluchi // DOWNLOAD HIGH RES
On their new EP baby teeth, available today, Mars Aspen (they/them) offers raw, direct snapshots into the ups and downs of past relationships with others—as well as their relationship with their own mental health. The EP is “a collection of memories that all tie to growing up and moving forward to better things,” explains Aspen. “As someone who has been very much ruled by mental health issues in the past, this EP touches on the long journey of radical acceptance, carving a path out of that dark space, all while giving a voice to the confused and scared kid that had to navigate through that time. From the wake-up call of ‘spilled milk’, the emotional processing of ‘i’d like to stay mad’, the turmoil and self-loathing of ‘pest control’ and ‘i want to be so sweet’, to the grieving and growing of ‘baby teeth’, this EP is an ode to what I feel is the start of a purposeful life.”
Today, they’re also sharing the new live performance video of “i’d like to stay mad”, a song that “is a clear message that we feel our emotions for a reason,” says Aspen. “It was inspired by a person I was with briefly, who was never truthful in what they said. This song touches on the frustration of walking on eggshells, the concept of fight vs. flight vs. freeze vs. fawn, just to feel some semblance of safety, and the bitter end result of simply staying mad about how everything came to be.”
WATCH / SHARE “I’D LIKE TO STAY MAD” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) HERE
MORE ABOUT BABY TEETH EP
Courageous enough to be vulnerable, Mars Aspen gets real with their lush folk confessionals. This Ottawa-based songwriter digs into the hardest parts of intimate connections, spilling their heart so that you—in turn—can better understand your own.
Aspen honed their production skills with 2022’s shimmering in orbit! EP (recorded entirely in Aspen’s basement). baby teeth features stunning arrangements dreamed up alongside producer Kieran Isley swaying from haunting, softly-strummed ballads to Kate Bollinger-inspired folk-pop. Aspen makes these songs soar with strata of vocal harmonies, as on the divine folk incantation “i want to be so sweet”.
Having always practiced songwriting as a form of therapy, Aspen’s songs on baby teeth are disarming in their candour. “pest control” explores the complexities of queer relationships and the painstaking process of digging into the reasons why some of them simply (or catastrophically) end (as Aspen sings, ‘I attract what I give / I give all that I am / nothing I won’t submit’). Aspen confronts holding onto righteous anger on “i’d like to stay mad”, a dissection of social toxicity. Aspen approaches songwriting by “dumping emotions onto a page, letting them settle, and rearranging them to sound like a song,” and you can hear them work out these interpersonal conflicts like puzzles. There’s a sense of calm in hearing the trauma settle, in hearing the narrator grow.
WATCH “SPILLED MILK” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) HERE
WATCH / SHARE “BABY TEETH” (LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO) HERE
baby teeth is ultimately a collection of songs about growth. “They’re about realizing that we need to grow up sometimes,” Aspen laughs, “despite how jarring a sentence that is!” Having flirted with frustration, disavowal, and finally, bittersweet resolve, Aspen is leaving plenty of room for all that is to come.
BUY / STREAM BABY TEETH EP HERE
BABY TEETH EP TRACKLIST
01 spilled milk
02 i’d like to stay mad
03 pest control
04 i want to be so sweet
05 baby teeth
