''Kill Me'' is the fourth

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

released by British indie rock band

Sundara Karma Sundara Karma are an English rock band formed in 2011 in Reading, England. The band consists of lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Oscar Pollock, lead guitarist Ally Baty, bassist Dom Cordell and drummer Haydn Evans. The band's name is deri ...

. The EP was released on 24 November 2020 through Chess Club Records.

Background and recording

Following touring in support of their sophomore album, ''

Ulfilas' Alphabet ''Ulfilas' Alphabet'' is the second studio album by English band Sundara Karma. It was released on 1 March 2019 under RCA Records. Stylistically, the album has been described as a dramatic departure from their previous album, ''Youth Is Only E ...

'', lead singer Oscar Pollock took most of 2020 off from music. Pollock told ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' in a October 2020 interview that he "got to a point where I felt lost within myself". Pollock further explained that he spent much of 2020 coping with existentialism and depression. Pollock stated that ahead of the release of the EP, which was recorded throughout 2020, that it "seems to have resolved". The entire album was recorded and produced during the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The songs were recorded by the band in their personal studio, while the production by

Clarence Clarity Adam Mark Crisp (born c. 1985), known by the stage name Clarence Clarity, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. He has been praised for his unique, eclectic pop sound which was described by ''The Guardian'' as "funk played by ...

was undertaken via phone calls and e-mail.

Style and composition

Oscar Pollock told ''NME'' that the EP is more expansive than the traditional guitar-driven tracks found in their first two studio albums. "

t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

vaster and less emo. I was saying over a year ago that I was ready to move on from ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’, and I had a bunch of songs kicking around. But, if I don't get given a deadline, I'll just let songs rot on a hard drive".

Critical reception

''Kill Me'' was met with mixed reviews by contemporary music critics. On review aggregator website, ''Album of the Year'', ''Kill Me'' has an average rating of 67 out of 100. Stephen Ackroyd, writing for ''Dork'' magazine, gave the album a positive review, saying that the EP, "is a collection of tracks that sends Sundara streaming into the starlight". Ackroyd further praised Clarance Clarity's production work on the album. Ackroyd summarized the EP as an exciting preamble of what could come on the band's third full-length album. Writing for ''DIY'' magazine, Emma Swann gave the album four stars out of five. Swann called the album a sprawling album that can get lost at times, especially with Clarity's production. However, Swann said that because of the band's "knack for a hook, and love of a big chorus is what keeps 'Kill Me' from descending into total chaos". Ben Kitto, writing for ''Riot Magazine'', was critical of the EP calling it "turgid". Kitto further critiqued the production of the record saying that "the production doesn’t do the dragging, bombastic drum line the justice it thinks it does. Meanwhile, Pollock’s vocal is less dynamic and inimitable, and more one-note. And the mess of the rest of the production drowns it out anyway." Kitto gave ''Kill Me'' a four out of ten rating.

Track listing

References

External links

Kill Me EP
{{Sundara Karma 2020 EPs Sundara Karma EPs Albums produced by Clarence Clarity Experimental pop albums