Petals to Thorns

the take

*DISCLAIMER: While d4vd has not yet charged for the situation he's dealing with (y'know, "innocent until proven guilty" and all that), it's still "Fuck d4vd" for really being a pedophile.* The first time I actually heard of d4vd was at Camp Flog Gnaw in 2023, where I saw his stage from the VIP section at the stage where I was at, damn near great distant view of seeing both him and the crowd. From what I've heard, I enjoyed pretty much everything he played that night to the point where I told myself I'll check his music out real soon. "Real soon" turned out to be two years later and after all the unfortunate news that came out. (Unfortunate news about the victim, not d4vd.) It sucks that I still found myself to be really curious about his music. It also kind of sucks even more that I find myself actually still enjoying this EP. "Petals to Thorns" is an album that shows both innovation and how generic it can be at times. That's more so on the songwriting side of things. The lyrics can be corny sometimes, but d4vd's knack for making songs about love and emotions make said lyrics sound not as bad. (Well, at the time, of course. 🙃) d4vd's vocals, on the other hand, on here are actually pretty good, as it somehow grabs you and makes you wonder what was/is going on in his mind. Songs like "Here with Me" and "Backstreet Girl" both fit the mold pretty well. It should also be noted how the instrumentation on these tracks are actually pretty damn magnificent. The sounds help create a mellow vibe that I actually can vibe to. "This Is How It Feels" with Laufey is a perfect example of such, as these two worked well together as a team to create arguably the best song on the project. As for the elephant in the room, "Romantic Homicide"? Worst song on here with lyrics that's aging like milk ("In the back of my mind, you died"), but I still end up enjoying it just enough. Good EP that I'm sure showed promise for d4vd at the time of its release. So much for that now, though.