Esthy dropped “Bad Habit” on June 6th and wrote, produced, and mixed it herself, which you can actually feel. It doesn’t have that slightly-too-polished quality that happens when too many hands are on a track.
The production sits in this late-night, slightly hazy pop space. Not minimal exactly, but nothing’s fighting for attention, and the instrumental gives the vocal room, and her delivery takes advantage of that. She sounds like she means it, which sounds obvious but isn’t always the case.
Esthy keeps it pretty direct. “You’re my bad habit, I keep falling back in it” does the job in one line.The hook isn’t trying to be clever, it’s just honest, and that tends to land harder anyway, this is what makes the song more interesting. There’s also this detail about someone showing up at your place acting like nothing’s wrong that feels pulled from an actual memory rather than constructed to fit a rhyme scheme.
I keep thinking about how many LA pop singles come out every week that sound competent and then disappear. This one has enough of a specific voice to not do that. The writing is hers, the production is hers, and it sounds like a person rather than a format.
Worth a listen. And if you like it, follow her on Instagram so you catch what she puts out next.
Follow Esthy: Instagram @esthyofficial – Spotify
