It Always Starts Mid Winter: Arranged in April Perfects Transforming Poetry to Sound

Juniper Wolff

Local Music Journalist  

Arranged in April, native to San Antonio, has blown up the screamo/skramz scene with their exceptional mixing, passionate vocals, and undeniably powerful lyrics. Despite Arranged in April’s debut being only last year, they have already garnered a massive, passionate fanbase. Their freshman debut album, “Rooted in Desire,” set the standard for quality, forcing them to put large amounts of effort into their future projects. Despite setting high standards for themselves, their recently released EP, “It Always Starts Mid Winter,” continues the trend of high-quality, heartfelt music. Each song takes the listener down a rabbit hole of sadness and empathy, a perfect definition of what screamo/skramz is as a whole. 

“As The Seasons Change, You’ll Find Me The Same” 

The EP opens up with lo-fi guitar and feminine vocals, which ring throughout the project. As the track progresses, the guitar gets louder, the vocals start to evolve, and as the climax hits, it all slows down with a powerful instrumental section. It perfectly replicates the flow of the lyrics. Prior to the instrumental section, the lyrics passionately exclaim, “watch me rebuild as our city decays and our seasons change.” As the track hits its actual peak, the vocals get scratchier, lower quality, and turn into screaming rather than singing.  Passion ripples throughout the listener as the vocalist, Emory Anderson, pours her heart and soul into each powerful spoken section. 

”Oil & Water” 

The second track of the five-track EP starts with a bit more energy than its predecessor. They both share the same format of opening with a spoken word section before delving into more intense vocals and melodies. This track talks about uneven power dynamics in relationships and the trauma that comes from it. Lyrics describe these feelings with “an instinctual urge to nurture can only take its hold for so long, ’til it turns to disdain” and “comfort can disguise itself as pleasure”. As a whole, this track hosts the most emotion out of any track on this EP, even with its disadvantage of being the shortest track on this already short EP. 

“Pull Me Home” 

Bridging the halfway point through this EP, this song takes a different approach with the vocals. Contrary to the previous tracks, which were predominantly led by female vocalist, Emory Anderson, the track opens up with vocals from lead guitarist, Chris Rawls. On the other hand, this song clings to the main theme of unhappiness in relationships. Lyrics like “I grew another me so that they could rip out my brain … and I’ll at last get rid of the memory of you” perfectly encapsulate the emotions they are intending to replicate. From the melodic perspective, this song uses the ‘wall of sound’ element from shoegaze to overwhelm the listener. This wasn’t done for the sake of good music; it was intentionally placed to reproduce the feelings that ex-lovers feel after breaking up with each other. 

“Bare Bones” 

As the EP begins to wrap itself up, this track continues to add onto the theme of toxicity in relationships and how they continue to have an impact regardless of how much time passes. The lyrics describe these feelings, “stripped myself down to bone for you, ripping every inch of my authentic self, the one you swore you cherished. Anderson does a fantastic job of putting these feelings into words. She screams with a tone of unapologetic pleading, similar to how many feel after leaving a messy relationship. Like the other tracks, this one follows the same structure of having a spoken word section, instrumental section, then a powerful chorus and climax. Much like a toxic relationship, this song feels uncomfortably emotional. 

“There’s No End in Sight” 

The title of this final track itself fits the atmosphere already established. “There’s No End in Sight” adds a perfect bow on top of an already emotional EP. It plays out just like the end of a relationship: “my flesh is just flesh, my heart is just a heart (with you gone, my heart is bleeding), yet I am compelled to need you.” These lyrics delve into how the manipulation of an ex-lover can carry on even after the relationship comes to an end. The guitar takes a backseat on this song compared to the rest of the EP. Compared to songs like “Pull Me Home,” this track utilizes its guitar to add more of an emotional touch rather than smother the listener with sound. The final lyrics of the track are as follows: “Let my body go, I still love you so, let my body go.” 

Arranged in April hones their craft with their recently released EP, “It Always Starts Mid Winter.” Describing the lingering feelings of toxicity and poor self-esteem after a messy breakup, Arranged in April perfects the ability to both write poetry and add instrumentals without taking away any feelings that the poetry gives the listener. Arranged in April continues and will continue to outperform the saturated market of lo-fi skramz with their emotionally intense vocals, melodies, and poetry.