Kid Hastings Invokes Fear of Change and Martin Scorsese in Debut EP 'Golden'
19-year-old artist and producer Kid Hastings has released his debut EP Golden, and he's just getting started. A reflection on his childhood in New Jersey and his journey as a musician in Los Angeles, Kid Hastings captures his experience poignantly both sonically and visually in the title track "Golden."
Filmed in a New Jersey suburbia and its surrounding woods, Kid Hastings channels Martin Scorsese's short film The Big Shave, using a gruesome shave as a metaphor for personal renewal, pain, and coming of age.
Inspired by his decision to move to Los Angeles, "Golden" reflects the artist's mixed feelings on going to California. "There's a real fear in leaving home," he confesses, "that if you ever return things won't be the same, that in the coming of age you will leave behind a part of yourself."
Kid Hastings flexes his talent as a producer on "Golden" with vocal layering, pitching, and sampling, making this track his most experimental (and most impressive) to date. Beginning with pitched down vocals and atmospheric synths, the song gives the impression of nostalgia. This is echoed in the lyric, "I'm trying not to forget the past," later in the song.
Another standout track from this 4-song debut is "Frame of Mind." Continuing the thematic idea of "Golden," "Frame of Mind" is centered around the anticipation of visiting home again after moving out. Self-described as Kid Hasting's most "carefree" song on the record, it shows the writer learning to accept change while maintaining a tinge of anxiety for the return.
With his debut EP, Golden, Kid Hastings makes an incredibly impressive statement as a writer and producer, capturing his subject candidly and with an articulation that seems beyond his years. Kid Hastings is undoubtedly an artist and producer to watch.
Listen to Golden below:
