Try Harder [Gold LP]

On 'Try Harder,' Aerial East dives into what she has known 'adolescence, heartbreak, coming into a new social consciousness, and managing a perpetual unanchored-ness' in order to find a most surprising place to rest inside: the unknowable. East invites us into a complex realm that is equal parts reverie and listlessness. It's a place where the west Texas landscape of her youth, 'that old flat part of the world,' still lives profoundly inside of her, where old loves and out-of-touch friends are never forgotten. East's delicate voice takes center stage, creating an unvarnished intimacy between her and the listener, a reflection of her live performances. 'I wanted the album to be easily translatable into a live show,' she says. She also visualized the record as feeling like the desert at night. 'Western but quiet and intimate. I wanted it to have gravity but didn't want it to be heavy.'