Photo by Tim Oxton

When Funeral Advantage came onto the scene in 2015 with Body is Dead, it was a project that presented hopeful ideas in a dreamy soundscape. The feelings were bright, both lyrically and musically. But in the interim since, band mastermind Tyler Kershaw learned how quickly hopefulness can turn to misery. That’s why the follow-up to his debut LP is the much more dour Please Help Me EP, set for release February 24th via The Native Sound/Disposable America.

The effort was written in the wake of a crumbling relationship, which is usually all it takes to switch off someone’s positive outlook. Lead single “CEOT7K” deals with the resulting despondency directly as Kershaw sings, “Beside you, I’ve reduced to/ An amputee, dead, always here but never again.”

“‘CEOT7k’ is about how I have given up on trying to be a good person,” Kershaw tells Consequence of Sound, calling the track “the angriest song I have ever written.” “I have always wondered why I never felt focused or driven to do well in school, work, relationships, etc. I came up with an understanding at the beginning of this year that it never really had anything to do with me. I realized slowly that nothing I ever did came out positively in the end due to reasons beyond my control. God has repeatedly shoved me to the ground as soon as I got back up.”

Though the songwriter is clearly in a heavier place, his music thankfully hasn’t lost its lightness. The track movies with the easy urgency of bright melodies and rapping percussion. Take a listen below, and preorder Please Help Me here.

Please Help Me EP Artwork:

Please Help Me Tracklist:

01. Please Help Me

02. CEOT7K

03. The Hanging Cage

04. Shining

05. We Lost Our Home

06. Lakewood Mausoleum