Earcandy: Baby Pink Vinyl LP

Across 12 tracks, co-produced by Miso Extra herself and featuring collaborations from DJ Boring, Metronomy, AK Paul, Samo, Tyson and MICHELLE, Miso takes us on a journey of lovelorn vulnerability, growth and self-empowerment, traversing the K-Pop and UK Garage references of the earworming “POP” to the lovesick lyricism and bass-heavy R&B beats of “Good Kisses”, synth-house swing of “Certified”, and reverb-laden ‘80s melodics of “Ghostly”. “I wanted to make a self-aware pop record, full of the songs I’d want to listen to when I was growing up,” she says. “It’s about growing through your mistakes and not being afraid to get things wrong. There are some deep messages in there but it’s surrounded by sweet earcandy – that spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.”

Miso also sees her music as forming part of the Misoverse – an anime-inspired space of creative exploration. “I always have to do a lot of code-switching in different situations and so I wanted to reflect that in my music,” she says. “The Misoverse is where I can explore all the different musical sides of myself, with all my influences present and me as the hero of the story. It’s umami for the ears – deliciousness to listen to.”

On Earcandy, Miso expands her sonic universe to produce the fullest expression of her restlessly roving sound. Decamping to Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 in London over summer 2024, Miso began working with Grammy-winning engineer Riccardo Damian, who has previously collaborated with Mark Ronson, Ezra Collective, Jorja Smith and Sampha. “He was my Mr Miyagi, I learned so much from Riccardo during the whole process,” Miso says. “Plus working in Studio 13 was so inspiring since I’m such a Gorillaz fan and you can channel their energy there, as well as feel the influence of other people who have used the space from Erykah Badu to Paul McCartney.”

Taking inspiration from anime favourites like Spirited Away and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Miso started writing music to reflect her own coming of age from naivety to self-knowledge. “I’d only ever made loops before but on Earcandy I’m producing beats on tracks like Love Train and Don’t Care,” she says. “The story of the record reflects my own journey to becoming more confident and empowered.”

TRACKLIST:

1 1 Love Train

1 2 POP

1 3 Good Kisses

1 4 Certified

1 5 Playboi

1 6 Done.

1 7 Moshi Moshi (interlude)

1 8 Slow Down

1 9 Ghostly

1 10 Don’t Care

1 11 Candy Crushin’

1 12 Earcandy