Record Setter‘s Judy Mitchell has released her debut solo EP under the name Small Pictures, Songs For People Who Grew Up In The Church. Judy writes:

“songs for people who grew up in the church” is an EP i’ve written with the specific intent of recontextualizing musical ideas that i was raised on in the church.

the first songs i ever sang were hymns.
the first stage i ever played on was a worship service.

since i’ve grown away from the church and the faith i was raised on i have found many musical ideas hold such a specific connection to that time in my life and the music i was playing that i have been unable to separate them from one another and hear them objectively.

these songs are largely inspired by sounds, progressions and structures that i can remember hearing all the way back to my first memories of music as a child in a pentecostal church.
there are specific words chosen through out these songs because of the weight they held and continue to hold over my life due to my upbringing.

this EP is a kind of sonic catharsis of my seemingly endless well of christian guilt. many of you reading this may feel the same and this is for you.

Record Setter’s last album — 2020’s excellent I Owe You Nothing — was largely a screamo record, but it still had moments fueled by Judy’s melodic singing voice, which she fully embraces on this stripped-back EP. The songs revolve around Judy and her acoustic guitar, with some light drumming and some other minor embellishments, and if I Owe You Nothing recalled ’90s screamo, then this is closer to early 2000s emo singer/songwriters like Owen and Bright Eyes. It’s a raw, lo-fi EP, and the intimate vibe pairs perfectly with how emotionally bare the songs are. Check it out by streaming the full thing below…