Mini Trees Burn Out Orange Vinyl Edition

Burn Out - the latest release from Mini Trees - is a defiantly euphoric EPwith the sonic and emotional bandwidth of a full-length record packed neatlyinto five new songs from Los Angeles-based songwriter Lexi Vega. Inspiredby a relentless touring schedule that followed the release of her 2021 debutalbum Always In Motion, the songs of Burn Out confront questions of identity,exhaustion, and how to navigate creating art in an industry fixated on commodifyingit.A month away from music sparked Vega's creativity and inspired her toreturn with long-time friend and producer Jon Joseph. Together they determinedto push the limits of Mini Trees' "bedroom pop" description, openingthe door to a number of new collaborators - keys from Zac Rae (DeathCab for Cutie, Lana Del Rey), arrangements from James McAllister (SufjanStevens, Taylor Swift), and even bass from longtime family friend JimmyJohnson (James Taylor, Phil Collins). These songs shimmer in production,even as they're saturated with the pervasive sense of fractured identity, disillusionment,and otherness that has shaped much of Vega's sense of self.The overwhelming weight of these disparate identities is reflected in the EP'scover art - a bed cluttered with clothes she's chosen not to wear, familialheirlooms and mementos strewn at her feet.Songs like opener "Shapeshifter" exemplify the new, determinatively popsound Lexi & her team pushed for in these sessions. On the song, Vega contendswith her tendency to change herself to blend with her surroundings,ultimately leaving her feeling like an empty shell over pulsating synths andbuoyant drums. "Cave" is another album highlight, featuring Medium Build'sNick Carpenter and little more than an acoustic guitar and some keys."You're never going back there" the two singers belt throughout the song'sbuild, a lament for life's unlived trajectories despite satisfaction with the oneshe chose.The irony of Burn Out is that as vulnerably as Vega grapples with herinsecurities,...