Toronto singer-songwriter Joël Lobban’s EP I Still Think About You features four songs—which works out to one for every year that’s elapsed since his previous release, 2020’s GRUNGE GOSPEL. But once you immerse yourself in the seemingly smooth but lyrically harsh opener, “Crazy...”, the reason for his absence becomes immediately apparent: He’s been working through a lot, both musically and emotionally. While his melodic foundation remains grounded in the soulful church music on which he was raised by his pastor father, Lobban’s response to GRUNGE GOSPEL is more like daydream R&B, doing away with that album’s gritty trap trappings to immerse himself in a psychedelic stew of chilled beats, bedroom-indie guitars and subliminal saxophone squeals. That heady aesthetic perfectly complements a set of deeply introspective songs that finds Lobban drifting through painful memories of a doomed relationship while summoning the will to leave the past behind. “Because I haven’t dropped music in so long, I wanted to come back with music that was authentic to me but that I never did before,” he tells Apple Music. “I’m always listening to people who always made different shit, whether it’s Radiohead or Kid Cudi or Kanye or Nirvana—they all did their own thing, and I want to do that. So, even if I am making shit that’s a bit more deep-rooted authentic R&B/soul here, I still want to stick my head out a little bit and experiment.” Here, Lobban shares his thoughts on I Still Think About You, track by track. “Crazy…” “This is me dealing with my emotions and finding out some dumb shit happened and just learning how to deal with it by writing my thoughts down on paper. I feel like it’s something that everyone can relate to, because we all date, and love is one of the most interesting feelings in the world. It’s not uncommon to be in a toxic situation or have your heart broken. So, I was like, ‘I’m gonna be as honest as possible on the record—I’m gonna write it as I’m talking to the person. It’s written literally as if I was talking to her—like, ‘Yo, what if I did to you what you did to me?’” “Millionth Time” “This came from a different situation than ‘Crazy...’, but it ties in, because after you’ve been in different situations that left you bitter, and you’ve been on your own for a minute, you really learn how to love yourself. You realise your worth and that you can add value to any kind of situation. You start to act different and not accept anything less than what you feel like you deserve. So, when people start to come back into your life and hit you with that text, it’s like, ‘Nah—we ain’t gonna do that again.’” “Wait for Me” (feat. Marzz) “This one features Marzz. She’s a dope singer and songwriter from California. I thought it would be cool to have a female perspective on this, because the song is kind of similar to ‘Millionth Time’, but instead of immediately turning down a situation, you’re just a bit more open to the idea of seeing people again. It’s like you’re still single, still doing your own thing, but you start having conversations again, while still knowing your worth as well. Anything you’re trying to build from the ground up takes a lot of your time—you never want to jump into something super early, right? So, I’m saying, ‘Yo, wait for me.’” “Thinking About You” “I wasn’t in a relationship when I wrote this, but I was definitely starting to talk to other people, while still thinking about [my ex], who I was with the longest. [My previous relationship] was one of those situations where it’s like, when it’s good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad, you realise this is going nowhere, you really should just walk away. It’s funny: With toxic situations, sometimes those people are the most exciting and fun and intriguing—and those memories stick with you, even though it’s not ideal. I feel like to argue with someone or to use words like ‘I hate you’, you really have to let them in to feel that way, you really have to love them first. Because the love and hate comes from a deep-rooted place, you know?”