Ones2Watch Home

Photo: Aiden Cullen

Love is painful, and on his long-awaited debut EP, Petals to Thorns, genre-bending artist d4vd, born David Burke, explores just how deep it can cut. The EP serves as an introduction and journey into the young songwriter's identity as an artist unable to be boxed into a specific genre. Just one year after beginning to make music in his sister's closet in Houston, d4vd has delivered a masterful nine-track project that documents the joyful and dark sides of love and swears to keep you hooked from beginning to end.

Petals to Thorns opens with the enchanting "Sleep Well." The previously released single is a stunning ballad that showcases a new side of d4vd. Woozy instrumentals blend smoothly with his lovesick lyrics, epitomizing romance with a teenage fervor. Offering stripped-down vocals that allow his falsetto range to shine, he sweetly croons, "I'm here for you still / And even if you don't think that I'm near / I'll still be right next to you, my dear... Who's to say that our love ain't real?" as string and brass instrumentals ebb and flow in the background.

Listeners are then transported to the sunny, Up-inspired world of "Here With Me." The viral track expresses wanting to spend your life with someone you love while doing everything you can to keep them around. It sheds light on spending time apart and ultimately works as a comforting song because of its central theme of remembering the person you love is always with you. With beach guitar riffs and low-key percussion, the track feels like a warm hug that lingers after you've parted ways and said goodbye.

The EP then sees d4vd partner up with Icelandic pop artist Laufey for "This Is How It Feels. It's a captivating ballad heavily rooted in storytelling, with the duo using their iridescent vocals to communicate through song against twinkling piano keys. The end result is something that sounds right out of a fairytale, not dissimilar from the soundtracks of your favorite nostalgic childhood films. Wounded and pleading, "Don't Forget About Me" describes the end of a relationship in brutal detail. "I don't wanna keep crying on your shoulder," d4vd sings, obsessing over where things went wrong and asking to be remembered since fading out of memory is too painful. Strings and multi-tracked vocals enrich the otherwise skeletal production, making for a song that's so vulnerable it's almost difficult to listen to.

Other memorable tracks include the Euphoria/Rue Bennett-inspired "WORTHLESS," the anguish-filled "Backstreet Girl," the high octane "You and I," and of course, the RIAA-certified platinum "Romantic Homicide," a grungy, guitar-driven breakup anthem. The record's closer, "The Bridge," is a contemporary tune inspired by early 2000s pop punk, with rich guitar riffs and heavy-hitting percussion. Opening with stripped-down guitar riffs, d4vd uses his intoxicating vocals to paint a picture of not feeling enough for someone and keeping the love that they threw away. Then, as the instrumentation swells into one final chorus, he belts gut-punching lines like, "Enough, shut up, 'cause I'd kill myself for you / Walk in the dark, I can't find my way to you / Gone, gave it all, and it's all my fault," closing the whole record with the lyric, "Don't you get complicated, that's the reason we separate."

After facing copyright strikes on his gaming YouTube channel, d4vd kickstarted his music career by recording songs inside his sister's closet via the app BandLab. Noting gaming culture and anime as some of his biggest influences, d4vd's sound is a true testament to the DIY spirit of today's emerging artists. d4vd's summer tour dates are in celebration of the upcoming project. His headlining shows earlier this year as part of "The Root Of It All" tour sold out immediately. These new summer dates will revisit major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, expanding to larger venues.

Listen to petals to thorns below: