By Lilah Otten

Currently on hiatus from opening for Joshua Bassett on ‘The Golden Years’ tour, Thomas Day has released the most enchanting yet utterly soul-crushing collection of music. His newest EP, Angel Boy, is out now and deserves all the love in the world. 

Originally discovered on NBC’s America’s Got Talent in 2020, Day dropped out of the competition early. That however was not the end of his musical career, as he released his first single, “Softly” in 2021 and his debut album, Love Me For Another Day in 2023. Since then, Day has released three singles, one of which is a part of this new EP.

Before I listened to the three new songs, I was wondering if the sound would align more with “Paper Cup,” which was the lead single, or with his past more upbeat but still emotional ballads. After hearing them a few times, I think it’s safe to say that these tracks might mark a new era in Day’s music. They certainly follow the path of “Paper Cup” and though they are a little low energy compared to his past work, I absolutely loved the emphasis on the lyrics and vocals, because we should be talking about this more. The raw vocals that Day makes sound easy add an extra level of emotion to an already devastating collection of songs. 

The first song on the EP is “Sentimental.” My initial thoughts were mostly about how different this almost acoustic sound is from all of his previous work. This song feels to me like the black sheep in terms of tone as it feels very hopeful and romantic. My heart melted at the end of each chorus with the lyric “What a day to be alive when I’m looking in your eyes” and I have not been able to get that line out of my head since. 

The next track, “Catch up to Me” is a lot sadder than the previous one. Storywise, it mostly deals with the agony of moving on from an unreciprocated love. Day details a relationship in which one person seemed to care more than the other. I think it is beautifully composed and I must talk about the ending. Absolutely gorgeous. I love a good instrumental outro and this one is utterly jaw-dropping. It feels like the perfect bittersweet way to wrap up a bittersweet song.

I have already had the privilege of hearing “Paper Cup” live at ‘The Golden Years’ tour and Day’s passion for this story really speaks for itself. This is another very somber track and it almost feels like the inverse of “Catch up to Me.” It again displays a fear of moving on, but in this one, it feels like the person who ended the relationship is having a harder time moving forward than the other. Day expertly uses the hook, “I threw it all away like coffee in a paper cup,” as a way to explain the common feeling of not knowing what you have until it’s gone and I think, though a bit cliche, it works really well. The production on this song, as well as on the previous one, is very understated which, again, just heightens the emotional impact that his words have. 

The final song on Angel Boy is called “Broken Glasses.” In my opinion, this one is genius. Day uses the imagery of broken glasses to insinuate the fact that he was blinded from the bad in a relationship by infatuation. His vision is skewed and although he knows it has to be over, he doesn’t want it to be. He then throws the line “My love, I hope to see you again one day,” into the mix and expects me not to freak out. Emphasis on See you. The desire to not have to ignore the issues anymore and just finally be able to see the good without desperately searching for it really ties the whole song together for me. This track carries the overall sad tone that stays true throughout the EP, but also puts a hopeful spin on it, which I really appreciate and I think others will as well. 

Nate Miles, Sir Nolan, and Simon Wilcox were all collaborators on this project and it is very important to acknowledge them, as there would be no Angel Boy without them. As I said previously, the production and writing on this EP are very well balanced, with the production dropping off when the focus of the song needs to be on the lyrics. I think it happens often in music where it feels like these two components are battling it out to be the center of attention and I don’t see any of that here. 

Ever since I first heard Day’s music, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much he reminds me of fellow singer-songwriter, Benson Boone. Boone has generated quite the following in only the past year and Day definitely has the potential to do the same. I applaud Day and all of his collaborators on this EP and I really hope to see him grow into a household name. I urge everyone to go give Angel Boy a listen.