After a gruelling few years of write-release-repeat, Chymes took a breath and decided to change it up. Instead of putting productivity at the fore, she chose to spotlight joy. “It was nice to just do…whatever. My collaborators and I were just experimenting, playing with no deadline, and not putting the project in a box,” she says. The new Alien EP from Chymes is a sprawling, intergalactic hyper-pop exploration into the self. Unbound by deadlines or expectations, Chymes was able to wholeheartedly embrace her potential as a songwriter and performer - and do it with an undeniable sense of freedom and play that permeates the EP from start to finish. The theme of the work presented itself naturally over time, and is summarised completely within the title: Alien. For the first time, Chymes confronted a lifelong inkling that she was just…different. Different to her peers, different as an artist - but it wasn’t a reckoning so much as it was an embrace. “My whole life I’ve always felt very odd. I couldn’t ever quite put my finger on it,” she says. “I didn’t quite fit in at school growing up. I always felt that I stuck out in an awkward way. That definitely carried on into my adulthood." Alongside her longtime producer Cameron Taylor and co-writer Celeste Newman, Chymes settled on six polished tracks for the Alien EP. Speaking humbly about her relationship with her collaborators, she shares: “Being so utterly comfortable with the people in the room when you are creating is the best experience you could have as a writer and artist. It’s also really important for me to have people in the room that understand my language, understand my vision and my direction, and can help me get there.” Each song on the EP offers a new take on the idea of being an “alien”, an outsider, and invites the listener to embrace the idea of being different just as Chymes has.