Everything (not really)

EP by Sondre Lerche

On Turning Up the Heat Again, Sondre Lerche blends indie pop, bossa nova, jazz, soul, trip-hop, psychedelia, and orchestral pop into three remarkably intricate songs that somehow feel effortless. The arrangements are constantly shifting, yet never become showy. Every flourish serves the song rather than calling attention to itself.

The result is an EP that feels cinematic without becoming grandiose.

If anything, these songs remind me of stumbling into a tiny Paris nightclub where jazz musicians, poets, and folk singers have all wandered onto the same stage. Everything feels intimate, sophisticated, and just a little mysterious.

“After the Coup” immediately became one of my favorite songs. Built around a gorgeous 1960s-inspired bossa nova rhythm, the song feels simultaneously old-fashioned and timeless. Lerche has an unusual vocal style that often sounds like he’s speaking directly to you before quietly slipping into melody. That conversational delivery makes the song feel incredibly intimate, even as the arrangement gradually expands into something lush and cinematic.

The music carries the warmth of a sunny afternoon while the lyrics seem to wrestle with a much heavier world. I kept hearing a tension between pessimism and hope. An acknowledgment that things are broken paired with a quiet belief they don’t necessarily have to stay that way.

Where “After the Coup” seems to contemplate the world around us, “Turning Up the Heat Again” explores what it means to risk loving someone after you’ve already been burned.

Musically, it continues borrowing from vintage jazz traditions while folding in trip-hop rhythms, psychedelic textures, and flashes of Beatles-esque orchestral pop.

Instead of treating emotional scars as reasons to avoid intimacy, Lerche transforms them into ingredients for something new. The song fully acknowledges the damage relationships can leave behind, yet still chooses vulnerability anyway. It’s romantic without feeling naïve.

“Diplomacy” closes the EP by introducing one more stylistic turn. Soul influences begin filtering into the elegant piano arrangement while Lerche delivers perhaps his smoothest vocal performance of the three songs.

I found myself hearing the song in two different ways. On one level it feels like the slow unraveling of a relationship, where two people no longer share the same vision of the future. On another, it seems to quietly acknowledge the increasingly fractured political and philosophical world we all occupy. Whether negotiating the end of a romance or learning how to coexist with people fundamentally different from ourselves, diplomacy becomes less about winning than about accepting that not every conflict has a satisfying resolution.
That ambiguity gives the song remarkable depth.

I was struck by how well these three songs worked together.

“After the Coup” looks outward, wondering if hope can survive a fractured world.

“Turning Up the Heat Again” turns inward, asking whether love is still worth pursuing after disappointment.

“Diplomacy” quietly bridges those ideas, suggesting that whether the conflict is personal or societal, moving forward requires patience, compromise, and the courage to begin again. It’s a remarkably cohesive statement for an EP that lasts barely more than a dozen minutes.

These songs are adventurous, lyrically thoughtful, and beautifully arranged, but they never lose sight of melody. Every chorus feels earned. Every stylistic detour feels purposeful.
If this EP is a preview of a larger project still to come, I can’t wait to hear where Lerche goes next.

Verdict: Great