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On her debut EP, I Hate Spring<\/em> (out April 30th on Arts & Crafts<\/a>), Toronto-based artist Charlie Houston<\/a> collects candid thoughts about the vulnerability of growing up and all the in-betweens that come with entering adulthood. The music, although largely undefined by any specific genre, is as tender as the time she\u2019s navigating; each of the songs on the album touches on the experience of learning how to be authentically yourself beyond the confines of childhood expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Houston uses familiar pop formulas that make for easy, fun listening while also sounding fresh and unexpected. She worked closely with producer Chris Yonge to find the right sound for the music, and although Yonge is more heavily influenced by artists like Mac Miller and Juice WRLD, they were able to create a sonic world that is Charlie\u2019s all her own. \u201cI think it\u2019s a hybrid of indie, electronic, R&B, and a whisper of bedroom pop as well. When I\u2019m writing songs I\u2019m thinking more about if it sounds good than if it\u2019s in a specific genre,\u201d Houston says. The production on the album, which utilizes quirky sounds like telephones ringing and curling guitar riffs, leaves room for an unfiltered joy that belies the difficult topics addressed in the lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n