Review: All You Need To Know about “For Broken Ears” by Tems

Tems is here to make it all sound pleasing in her debut Ep “For Broken Ears”

After shooting straight into the spotlight with her 2019 single “Try Me”, the rising songstress then collected guest features over the months that included an amazing performance on Khalid’s single, proving why she could be the modernized version of Asa, crooning on seven songs that cover Love, Life, and relationships.

With a soothing voice, she kicks off her project with “Interference”, a plaintive piano ballad that laments on all sorts of emotions that come with a broken relationship, all chiaroscuro and natural voice, trademark Tems. Already the standout of the project, “Ice T” is what Tems is all about, Bedroom pop that lends itself to a solitary environment with a mixture of anthemic radio pop, allowing herself to be heard on production crafted by herself. That’s the intriguing part of the project, four out of seven songs are self-produced, allowing Omeiza to add provisional skills for production, who produces “Free Mind” with Tems.

On “Free Mind”, she writhes against the vice-grip of anxiety, painting an image of soulful meditation that is impressively refined, vivid, and unblinkingly honest, a type you can jump-start your day with, while in search for positive energy, giving as a self-care tune in the process. “Higher” sees the singer channeling her inner rebel persona, whiles throwing questions to her lover, she sounds fulfilled but still wants a puzzle solved, with brutal honesty from her partner, on sparse instrumentals, leveled with cymbal crashes, she grazes the production with sugary falsetto and a sharp deadpan, rounding off an elite Alte/R&B production by Oddio.

Accompanied with steamy visuals, “Damages” still sounds fresh, serving as a lead single off the project, a mid-tempo bop that allows Tems to flow smoothly, sounding fierce and done with a toxic relationship, with all the struggles Tems battled with throughout the project, she finally gets the last laugh and expresses Victory vibes on “Keys”, she almost sounds like a savior, offering serenity on the outro, with warm stretchy arms that succumb to her assuring writing skills, with a production stemmed with flowing flutes, it sounds like she canes out on top and strong.

With an unvarnished quality of her voice, carefully carried by calm productions, “For Broken Ears” is exactly what we expected from Tems, constant seesawing between true love and questioned life lessons, weaving in and out of complexity into a story of heartbreak, sad yet mesmerizing.