And The Rest Is Yours is the debut EP from the reincarnation of Ultraviolet, now growing in popularity as The Girlfriend Complex. Having quickly become a new force in the local scene and sold out venues across the capital, the quintet have been playing a few of these debut tracks to audiences for some time. But hearing this EP in its entirety allows each to take on a new meaning.
There is something very special about a well-thought-through EP. The Girlfriend Complex has created one that seriously works as a narrative whole. Five songs that work as five individual stories and yet roll into one exploration of love and loss. And The Rest Is Yours explores the experiences of young love and, more importantly, young heartbreak with a relatable and emotive touch.
Through the five tracks, we move through the process of such a specific grief in a fresh but familiar way. Across the five tracks, the group build from the emotional blanket of sound that draws you in through the opening track ‘And The Rest Is Yours’ into what seems to have become their defining single, Oceans, before arriving at the nostalgic rock of Whitney.
The sarcasm in Whitney does not go unnoticed, with the lyric ‘if you control your fate, why not control mine?’ cutting through the production when, at times the band swell over the vocalist – not something I dislike; if anything this adds to the concept of grief and emotions at play.
Although I find ‘Stanzas’ a little redundant after the peak of Whitney, it has found a place in this narrative of grief. It seems slightly repetitive in its ideas, yet sonically inverted to what came before. Perhaps this is exactly the point. The lyrics play with the battle between holding on and moving on. Where Whitney needed a track to be positively nostalgic against, Stanzas brings the reality back to the story.
Eulogy therefore brings a sense of welcome with a light outlook to leave on; ironic for its title. A very on the nose title for its last song, but with each track drawing an interlocking sense to the loss of young love, there is a feeling that they could be listened to in any order and carry the same meaning. A familiarity in their sound that makes the feelings conveyed so relatable. A simple yet compelling EP that leaves plenty to look forward to.
