In a political and social climate that instigates varying, majorly negative sentiments at a daily rate, finding a mode to articulate simultaneous anger, disappointment, and consequential  gratitude for existing comforts is a formidable feat. Enter EE Beyond, the Los Angeles-based soul and R&B singer/songwriter whose sonic influences stem from Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, and whose lyrical inspirations arise from the fictions she and her peers have been told. Oscillating from a voice that is soft and gentle to one that can be sharp and biting, Elaine Faye, the brainchild behind the project, tackles her frustrations over personal and national circumstances with an admirably controlled urgency.
EE Beyond’s debut EP, Watercolor Lies, shares the stories of the “pretty lies” of Faye’s life–as a woman, as a person of color, as an American, as a dreamer. “It’s a collection of a few different stories that are all based around lies that you’ve let yourself experience or expected yourself to have at any point in time,” Faye says. With aide from producer Solomusiq, né Malachi Clark, a fellow alumnus from Faye’s alma mater, the Musicians Institute, EE Beyond takes Elaine Faye’s soul band origins (she previously performed in L.A.-based weareTheBigBang) and expands them through hip-hop production and the occasional trap beat.
Home studio-recorded, Watercolor Lies begins with a community, homebase perspective on “Dreamers Howl,” produced by Dane Diamond. On Watercolor Lies’ title track, EE Beyond sheds light on a lie that rarely receives musical attention and treatment. Like many other young working people in the United States who graduated from college at the time of the recession, Faye found herself frustrated with a lack of job opportunities, despite pursuing everything she had been instructed to do to achieve success. EE Beyond confronts different kinds of lies on relationship-based tracks “Too High (The Story of Us)” and “Enemy,” the EP’s final track.
These false lies and social ironies are what EE Beyond questions and confronts throughout Watercolor Lies. As the artist drops this release (today) and prepares for tour, she hopes that listeners will not feel down about the content of her new tracks. “The EP is rather dark, but I don’t think it’s dark, necessarily, in a depressing way,” she says. “I think it’s a state of mind I was just trying to explore…Why are things like this and how did it get here?” Watercolor Lies is a body of music that exposes the lies EE Beyond has realized over time, but but its mission is perhaps an optimistic one–not as much an exposure of lies, but a quest for truth.
Ghettoblaster has the pleasure of streaming it today. Enjoy:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram