Tiny Habits Is Here to Deliver All the Feels: Tiny, Big, and Everything in Between
Meet Tiny Habits, the folk-pop trio rising to popularity for their enchanting harmonies and intimate lyrical charm.
Tiny Habits got its start on TikTok, where their very first post all but broke the in-your-feels side of the internet. Although they skyrocketed to recognition on social media, the group, made up of Maya Rae, Judah Mayowa, and Cinya Khan, preserves their grounded energy in all senses.
One of the beautiful things about Tiny Habits is that each member is an integral, equal part of a well-oiled machine; there’s no lead vocalist but three spokes on the same wheel. Without Judah’s blossoming runs, Maya’s versatile smoky tone, or Cinya’s endearing and heartbreaking emotiveness, Tiny Habits wouldn’t be what it is. It’s a rare case of genuine collaboration—musical twin flames (or I guess triplet?) —that radiates warmth from within every stack of Tiny Habits’ three-part harmonies.
“delay,” off the band’s just-released, debut EP, Tiny Things, beautifully showcases this phenomenon. In moments of unison, you can’t discern one vocalist's voice from the next, but rather are left with a woven current of melody. Tiny Habits is particular about where they decide to venture into harmonies, like when they stack more and more voices with each word of the line, “I just let it all pile, ’til I was completely crushed.” They make their music feel like the words they sing, stoking the glow of ache.
This persists in “tiny things,” where vocal layers intertwine with the lyrical imagery to illustrate the song’s meaning sonically. Where “tiny things” depicts the group’s composition mastery, their jazz roots are let loose on their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” where they paint with a vibrant palette of bubbling runs and dissonant harmonic choices.
Tiny Habits’ instrumental arrangement particularly glimmers in “hemenway,” with muted, plucked strings and cascading rhythmic variations stepping forward to adorn the sentimental song. One of my favorite lines from the EP haunts this track, “I feel like a monster now, ‘cause I ripped the heart right out of a pacifist.” It’s modestly stated, but with the sort of simplicity that is so relatable that you feel like the words have been plucked from the tip of your tongue. Tiny Habits has this knack for clarity that rips your heart out clean; everything they write feels like a thought you hadn’t been able to complete until they formed it for you.
“some things (i’ve learned)” rounds out the EP in true Tiny Habits fashion. The musing track lingers in the air long after it’s ended, leaving listeners with a poignant aftertaste that embodies the trio’s stirring effect. This summer, Tiny Habits will be joining Lizzy McAlpine on her European tour, a touching full-circle moment for the four musicians, who all began their journeys at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Listen to Tiny Things below for all the feels: tiny, big, and everything in between.
Listen to Tiny Things below:
