Rachel Bochner, a New York-based singer/songwriter, has released her third EP, ‘It’s Not Me, It’s U,’ today. The singer has been releasing music since late 2019, but made her official debut in 2020. With this, her discography currently consists of some hit singles and two EPs, ‘2 AM’ and ‘twenty something.’ She has grown in popularity in not only her music, but in her TikTok, which has amassed 22K followers. On this platform, Rachel tells her fans how each song makes her feel and how it can describe some of the people you encounter in your day-to-day life. Rachel says, “The project was inspired by highs and lows I’ve experienced - from the mental gymnastics I've done to justify avoiding blame to feeling empowered to speak up when someone does me dirty. Before I even realized it was happening, making this EP helped me learn to lean into my feelings, find humor in the darkness, and remember that I’m in charge of my self-worth.” The use of her platform to not only promote her music, but to help listeners understand the back story and feeling of a song is just a great way of engaging with one's audience. All in all, Rachel has been able to not only release a diverse and enriching EP, but made the process of it a whole lot more fun and interactive for fans/listeners.

Liv:

This EP had some amazing vocals and even better production. Though this work isn’t the type of music I’d typically listen to, I was thoroughly impressed with it as a whole. Rachel had some more grunge songs on this EP and I would absolutely love to hear more of this type of music from her. Out of the EP, my favorite song is for sure, ‘Men Like You.’ This song has a similar production to popstar Olivia Rodrigo and an amazing beat to end the song. This song makes me wanna push away any toxic men in my life! Another one of my favorites was ‘If Im Gunna Be Sad,’ a grunge song with insane production and even crazier synth and guitar throughout it. Overall, “It’s Not Me, It’s U” was filled with insane bangers. I cannot wait to see what else Rachel comes up with.

Isa:

After an extensive replay of this EP, I can officially say that this will be the anthem for anyone who is looking to bite back at all of those who have crossed them and broken their hearts. This EP is giving, “You made me feel this way and I am going to make it everyone else's problem.” Therefore, Rachel has created an EP full of petty remarks that will be all the drama this summer! 

For me, when I was listening to the EP, I not only learned the lyrics after listening to it once, but I was, in fact, playing the invisible guitar to some of these tracks. Before I dive into the songs and vocals, I have to give a HUGE shoutout to the production. The guitars, the cutoffs, the synths, and all of the amazing decisions that were made for this project made it 10x more enjoyable; nothing is better than to hear an EP with amazing vocals and out-of-this-world production. Rachel isn’t someone I had taken much time to listen to, but this EP has made me appreciate her craft. Most of the EP is very pop and that genre has not been on my radar lately. However, there are a few tracks that I physically felt like I was levitating it was so good. For example, track 4 has an insane synth in the beginning that makes it feel a little more grungy, then it cuts off to a sweet little bridge with strings and goes back to a chorus full of jaw-dropping remarks. My favorite lyric from this song is, “You say you have that dog in you, but all I see is a bitch.” I wish I could add a picture of my face when I first heard that line; I was truly flabbergasted.  If there is at least one song you take the time to listen to from reading this, take a listen to ‘If I’m Gunna Be Sad.’ Overall, I think Rachel did an amazing job of stepping out of her comfort zone and really putting all that hurt into a project that is not only fun to listen to, but makes you find “humor in the darkness.”

All in all, Rachel has created an EP full of emotion and drama for everyone to enjoy. If you are a fan of Gayle, Claire Rosinkranz, Ella Jane, or JAX you will definitely be obsessed with this EP. Here at Fanaticus, we are super excited about where this EP takes Rachel and what other projects she has planned for this year. ‘It’s Not Me, It’s U’ is out everywhere on all streaming platforms today, so don't make haste go take a listen!