Review: Leyla Ebrahimi – Planet You Forgot Me

6 minutes and 2 seconds. That’s how long the EP’s title track, planet you forgot me, runs. In itself, a small sensation in a time of attention shortage. The crisp guitar howls in a heavy-metal fashion before retreating into a mellow flow that escalates back to full-blown alt-rock when it needs to. There are no real verses, nor a repeating chorus. It’s a stream that only knows one direction: forward.

Last year, I accidentally stumbled upon Leyla Ebrahimi and her single nobody matters but You. And I was immediately enthralled by the crisp beat setting the tempo, the galactic synth painting the melody. It’s an uplifting alt-pop hymn, full of powerful moments and grand gestures. And yet, it feels immediate and raw. Ebrahimi breaks the rhythm, increases pressure, and ultimately explodes into an excellent crescendo.

What nobody matters but You already revealed back then, Ebrahimi now fully demonstrates on this debut EP: an irrepressible zest for experimentation, a refreshing aversion to conformity and lockstep, and a desire to subvert expectations.

Whilst planet you forgot me flirts with a generous dash of opulence, i’m a little flower skips airily over plucked guitar strings. Yet what begins so light-heartedly soon takes on a leaden bass groove, muffled beats and a wistful guitar.

Then there’s I’m Sorry Maria, perhaps the most classic track on the EP. With restrained thoughtfulness, Ebrahimi whispers: “Do you miss me, Maria? Are you sad that I’m gone?” Beneath it all lies a sombre arrangement, from which a rebellious pulse gradually emerges. And as Ebrahimi’s voice grows ever rougher and louder, the weight of a thousand worlds falls from one’s shoulders.

Perhaps the brightest will-o’-the-wisp is kindled by I Know You’re The Moon. A typical ballad that tenderly takes you by the hand, protectively enveloping your broken heart, but then suddenly bursts into this pop-punk riff and ends in utter despair.

The ballad-like quality inherent in all the songs on Planet You Forgot Me reaches its peak with this graveyard is for lovers. With a broken, pain-filled voice, Ebrahimi opens: “Oh my god, I really lost my mind this time.” All the anguish is laid bare, exposed to the elements, whilst the song gradually builds from a simple, quiet structure to a raw culmination of emotional outburst.

And following this raw, heart-wrenching song, the EP closes with the short reprise you forgot me (Planet Reprise). “Maybe in another life I’ll get to have you.”

Of course, this non-linearity, this apparent lack of conformity, has a structure of its own. At some point—though we don’t know exactly when—this twist arrives. Sometimes it’s starkly contrasting, as in I Know You’re The Moon; sometimes it creeps up on you, as in I’m Sorry Maria. But people watch horror films knowing that a jump scare is coming at some point. It is the anticipation that makes this EP so compelling and stimulating.

Together with Alexander 23, who has also worked with Olivia Rodrigo and Renée Rapp, Leyla Ebrahimi has created a powerful heartbreak EP that skilfully navigates around clichés with authenticity.

Yes, there are grand gestures and emotional grandeur. But they sound honest and personal, underpinned by compositions that aren’t overproduced. Imbued with powerful, unadulterated poetry, the images and verses recur, tying all the songs together. The graveyard, the moon, the little flower. Full of rough edges and with artistic maturity, Planet You Forgot Me is a work that is constantly evolving and skilfully defies categorisation.