Trevor Phelps hit alt-pop’s emotive capability with the title monitor from his debut EP, Who I Used to Be. By way of oscillations of visualised dissonance, the manufacturing pushes the regular ring of acoustic guitar strings and Phelps’ diaphanously disillusioned vocal strains to the forefront. What unfolds is a masterclass in orchestrating an achingly atmospheric confessional.
As he wrestles with the notion of who he’s now in distinction to who he was then, he invitations listeners to half with their confusion, longing, and mourning. What Radiohead delivered with Creep, Phelps matched with Who I Used to Be. It’s a meditation on introspective damage, laced with the instrumental ingenuity to carry the burden of the heavy lyricism. The way in which the softest vocal inflexions pour by means of spiralling digital melodies pulls you into his vulnerability with quiet insistence. It doesn’t scream for consideration; it merely exists with unflinching emotional magnetism.
Constructed round soul-baring lyrics and cinematic manufacturing, the monitor is an echo chamber for anybody who’s ever stood on the intersection between self-acceptance and self-doubt. It’s exhausting to be pleased with who you’re when the world retains shifting beneath you, and Phelps captures that fatigue with quiet grace.
Impressed by the uncooked honesty of Twenty One Pilots and the mood-driven tonality of The Neighbourhood, Phelps has discovered a spot the place singer-songwriter candour meets alt-pop immersion. His debut EP Who I Used to Be landed in June 2025; the follow-up mission, Who I Am Now, dropped on October twenty fourth.
Who I Used to Be is now obtainable on all main streaming platforms, together with Spotify.
Overview by Amelia Vandergast
