As winter weather arrives on campus, Rachel Chinouriri’s newest EP, “Little House,” comes packed with the sincerity and warmth listeners need to get through a frigid December.
For the last few years, Chinouriri has gained recognition for her playful, original pop — including from superstars like Florence Pugh. But this year, something changed for the British artist: She’s fallen in love, as she wrote on Soundcloud. Friday’s reissue of her complete EP “Little House,” featuring a new closing track, contains a multidimensional 19-minute glimpse of the “not so heartbroken woman” Chinouriri has become.
“Little House” displays an impressive range. Chinouriri moves from “Can we talk about Isaac?” — a foot-tapping pop hit with energy that can reach even the farthest corners of the stadiums she performed in when opening Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” tour this summer — to a heartfelt, personal track to close out the album. The EP’s final song, “Little House,” features production that is uncharacteristically pared-down for Chinouriri. She imagines a home for her and her lover that endures “through the chaos and the order / Through the beauty and the peace.”
With Chinouriri’s deft songwriting, the domestic dream of owning a “little house” is more than a boring aspiration or suburban fantasy. Rather, for Chinouriri, to own a “little house” means to own a place for one’s heart. The life she imagines may seem mundane — she pictures peeling onions in a kitchen, kissing toothpaste off a cheek — but her lyricism renders it exciting and important. “When you hold me in the moonlight / Well, that’s a future I can see,” she sings. The artist approaches long-lasting love with plainspoken sincerity and caution: “Is this something I can ask for? / Is this something I’ll achieve?” she asks.
Chinouriri’s voice carries the story of this album, whether it’s folded into layers of production or given room to breathe, like on “Little House.” She seems unable to sing — or even speak — without pouring out emotion.
This is especially seen on “Judas (Demo),” another tuned-down track on the album, where Chinouriri’s words soar over a muted guitar. “What is this betrayal?” she asks herself, the flat tone of her voice effectively carrying guilt and devotion.
The album’s standout track, “Indigo,” features production that slowly builds over the course of the song, with layered vocals and harmonies from Chinouriri painting an enthralling picture of a love full of dimension and color. On this track alone, the singer proves she can create a whole world with just her voice, not only crafting a story but building an arc of sound. “You make love feel like,” she sings, finishing the sentence with instrumental music.
The EP contains many of the characteristics of Chinouriri’s earlier work, bringing introspective lyrics and original musicality to a pop world that sometimes feels stagnant. But she also expresses more surety than ever before. On “Little House,” the singer grapples with the most trivial of social insecurities, but also with bigger questions about life and love: a sign of maturity and commitment that promises a bright future for the artist.
With “Little House,” Chinouriri has proven that a universe of emotion can be expressed in even a short project. In the EP’s six-song run, the singer-songwriter has created a house we should all want to live in.
