Drawing Mazes urges everyone to take a moment in his heartening self-titled EP.

The pressure can get to everyone: in this cutthroat world, perhaps most of us are on the cusp of breaking down at times. A talented troubadour such as Drawing Mazes--- whose latest self-titled EP is our focus today--- takes the worst vulnerabilities of such moments and transforms them into a wholesome bundle of tracks that instill encouragement for self-transformation, all the while becoming a source of relaxation, as all good music should.

Last summer, Drawing Mazes came to be as the Chicago-based artist decided to get into the indie-pop scene. His debut "First of May" is an amalgamation between genres: the soothing guitar melodies and electronica drums give away to a full-blown punk-rock main chorus, thereby establishing his tendency of venturing into neighboring styles and coming out with unexpected records. Down the line, his authentic production expertise flourished, as witnessed in the groovy "Living with Friction" with skittering drums as the arrangements border on psychedelic, melding with the reassuring vocals. "Daydreamer," which came out as the first single of this year, has an Afrobeat-style production with whispery vocals and muted instruments.

Unfurling with six songs that stand out amongst each other, this EP demonstrates the same sonic sensibilities of traversing between genres. Here's how we ranked those and the overall impression left by those tunes:

6 Your Favorite Book

Straight away, the relaxed and 'let off some steam' vibe is set up via the genial guitar melodies flowing over a groovy drumbeat, and the vocals ask to take it easy, laid-back and whispery. Mostly minimalistic in its composition and short-lived in duration, "Your Favorite Book" is appealing with the ambiance, although slightly falling short with the percussions in our opinion.

5 Why Do You Always Think Too Much

Here we see the American singer-songwriter dive deeper into the electronic spectrum with a shuffling breakbeat/garage beat, closely resembling "Your Favorite Book." At the same time, the singer manifests his distress about over-fixating daily. The instrumental makes good use of synths, as emotional strings are supplied during the hook.

4 Canyon Wolves

"Canyon Wolves" is an up-tempo and marching Americana rock number, including synths, and the songwriting unfurls about existentialist angst germinating from the mundaneness of every day --- ultimately making lives robotic and rigidly linear.

3 Vienna Beef

Bearing an uncanny title, "Vienna Beef" is an intimate and stripped-back number where Drawing Mazes, with its airy instrumental and delicate singing, recalls a friend's tragic loss, who eventually became a stranger. The unadulterated wistfulness and narrative nature of this really stood out to us.

2 Patient and Gracious

In the leading track of the EP, Drawing Mazes wears his heart on the sleeve, yearning and desperate for his loved one to remain unyielding during arduous times (Love, just be near now//You need to allow//Just being patient and gracious somehow). The accompanying mellow ensemble gradually progresses, in tune with the fragility and earnestness showcased.

1 Your Joy (Remembered)

The odd-one-out amongst the other tunes, "Your Joy" is a mesmerizing performance of reverb-soaked instrumental that piqued our attention right away; its contents are mellow, bittersweet piano chords with snippets of a child laughing, the bass streamlined and flowing alongside the sparser yet brisk drum patterns. Artistic and dreamy, this song takes this EP to another notch.

Listen to the EP on Spotify and stay connected with Drawing Mazes and his upcoming projects on Instagram.