HAEEAH "NUMBERS" EP REVIEW

Do you ever keep seeing a consistent sequence of numbers that follow you everywhere you go? For Haeeah, these repeating patterns have been something she’s been frequently aware of, so much so that she decided to name her debut EP Numbers. This project was entirely written, recorded, and mixed by Haeeah herself, which is always an ambitious task for a young artist and something I always admire.
Born in Kuwait and raised in Egypt, Haeeah and her family migrated to America when she was young. They settled in Louisiana until Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed their home, forcing them to move elsewhere. That unfortunate event led them to Minnesota. She now currently resides near the Twin Cities and is studying for a degree in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas. She’s a prolific writer who enjoys stories and poetry. These skills also translate well into her songwriting abilities, which she showcases throughout Numbers.
The intro track, “bump my music,” starts off with an altered voice representing someone hating on Haeeah’s name and music. Her first verse begins by addressing those haters and informs us that she’s going to do her own thing no matter what people think. The beat features smooth keyboard chords accompanied by hard 808’s and rapid hi-hats. Haeeah’s style is slow and methodic, bouncing back and forth between traditional singing and rapping.
“pigments in the sky” switches the vibe to a nice, mellow groove with bright percussion and a soft guitar melody. Haeeah sings about her love for someone special in her life. In the song, she acknowledges the pain she sees in the other person’s heart from some past trauma but reassures that she will care for that person with all her heart. In this track, Haeeah shows off her vocal range and the ability to deliver catchy melodic phrases.
“innout” follows more of the same beat style as the previous track. Lyrically, this is the song I related with the most from the EP. It’s essentially about Haeeah’s experience with feeling the highs and lows of life. She can go in and out of her positive and negative mind-states and lets her emotions get the best of her. Her flow on this is incredibly unique and fits well on the overall groove of the beat.

“Here I go again,
I’m in and out again,
I’m telling lies again,
I’m sending off my friends,
I’m telling Mom I’m staying in,
Telling my job that I quit,
Text my man, he ain’t with the shit,
So I’m out and in again,
Wondering when will it end,
Am I alive or am I spent paying off someone else’s debt?”

— Heaaeh, innout

The fourth track, “in my bag”, gives us a look into the side of Haeeah that’s in her zone and feeling herself. Lyrically, she paints a picture of her thoughts while hanging out with someone whose own ego is clouding his perception of what she thinks of him. He thinks she’s obsessed with him while she’s actually not all that interested. Haeeah experiments with more echo effects and filters that add a nice touch to areas of the song.
“priceless interlude” features a continuation of clean melodic ideas along with delay, reverb, and backing tracks that compliment the main vocals. The beat reminds me of the old-school 90’s feel and would work well as either a hip-hop or R&B instrumental. In this track, Haeaah brings us along to a time where she was meeting someone for the first time and instantly making a connection. The track also expands on the idea of how you can meet someone once and end up thinking about that person for the rest of your life.
“pause” embodies a minimalist but deeply emotional instrumental. Haeeah’s words paint a picture of a relationship gone sour. She states she needs to hit ‘pause’ on the relationship but doesn’t fully want to let go and move forward. Part of her knows she should move on, but part of her feels maybe the time apart might make her want to hit ‘play’ again someday in the future.
“2020” follows next and returns back to the classic hip-hop/R&B vibe with trippy guitar sounds, infectious hi-hats, and a heavy bass line. As horrendous as 2020 was, for many it was a period of rebirth, where things must be destroyed to build anew. To me, this song symbolized that rebirth and change for Haeeah as she attempts to move forward and focus on being a revitalized version of herself.
The eighth track, “what’s in the trunk?” begins with an audio clip of Haeeah’s father discussing relationships, fairness, and the price of love. The song is about withholding your emotions in order to not get hurt by someone. You want to share them with that significant other, but the fear of being hurt won’t allow her to go get them. It’s a very deep, mellow groove that stuck out to me as one of her top songs on the EP.
Haeeah saves the best for last with her song “colors.” Here, she shows off her vocal range and versatility while singing over a catchy guitar melody and simple but effective drum patterns. She lyrically illustrates a journey from a gray sense of hopelessness into rediscovering her sense of purpose and appreciation for all the wonderful things and people in her life. In the end, it’s like she is seeing colors again.
Numbers is an artistic expression of Haeeah’s experiences with life, love, emotions, and relationships of all types along her journey thus far. I love that she is not afraid to experiment with many different sounds, effects, and melodic ideas throughout this project. It’s a great first start, and I look forward to hearing more music from her to come! Haeeah is an incredible singer/songwriter with tremendous potential, so don’t be surprised to you hear big things from her in the future.

You can check out Haeeah’s music on Soundcloud.

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Review and interview by: Logan Michael Sawatzke, Writer @imLoganMichaels
Edited by: Eric Martin, Writer/Assistant Editor @eamartin95