TOLEDO – Tall Kids
TOLEDO have always lived in quiet spaces—bedrooms, beach towns, the liminal zones between youth and adulthood. With their new EP Tall Kids, the Brooklyn-based duo stretch those spaces outward without losing the intimacy that’s defined their sound since the beginning. This is TOLEDO at their most composed, most emotionally clear, and—perhaps most importantly—most confident.
Sound & Production: Lo-Fi Polished Just Enough
Tall Kids doesn’t reinvent TOLEDO’s sonic language—it refines it. The EP is filled with gentle guitars, reverb-draped vocals, and subtle rhythmic flourishes that nod toward both slowcore and folk-pop. But where earlier releases flirted with lo-fi haze, this one feels more deliberate, more cinematically sparse.
The production is crisp without being clinical. There’s space in every mix: acoustic guitars breathe, harmonies stack with intention, and moments of silence hit just as hard as any chorus. It’s a study in restraint, and it suits the material.
Lyrical Themes: Unsteady Ground, Gentle Honesty
TOLEDO’s strength has always been in small details. On Tall Kids, they turn inward again—grappling with the insecurities and minor triumphs of adulthood with a tone that’s more observational than dramatic.
“Tall Kids” plays like a tone-setter: wry, quietly anxious, and full of unresolved questions. “Amends” wrestles with communication breakdown and forgiveness, all within a hushed, gliding progression. “When He Comes Around” brings a darker emotional palette—less lyrical catharsis, more atmospheric weight. And “Zelda” closes the EP on a note of gentle melancholy, folding memory into melody with a soft, natural grace.
These aren’t songs built to explode—they unfold, shift, and settle into you.
Musicality: Subdued, But Sharpened
Vocally, TOLEDO’s harmonies continue to be their secret weapon. Think early Shins or Simon & Garfunkel, run through a filter of East Coast humidity and mid-20s malaise. Their arrangements are minimal but not bare—often built from just a few guitar lines, a rim-shot beat, and some synth undercurrents that feel more felt than heard.
And yet, despite their restraint, there’s growth here. A better sense of pacing. A willingness to let a song unfold on its own time. You don’t feel the clock ticking—you feel the air shifting.
Final Verdict: Small Stories, Big Impact
Tall Kids won’t raise TOLEDO’s profile overnight, but it doesn’t need to. It’s a quietly assured step forward—one that deepens their catalog and sharpens their vision.
In an era of maximalism, TOLEDO make music for listeners who want to lean in. Their storytelling is human-sized, but the emotional scale is massive.
For Fans Of: Hovvdy, Andy Shauf, Pinegrove, Lomelda
