Two Times Shy Go Track-By-Track With Debut EP 'It Looks Better Than It Sounds'

Brisbane emo outfit Two Times Shy have arrived with an emotionally resonant debut EP, It Looks Better Than It Sounds, that sees the band drop their collective guard and explore relationship breakdowns, fear of abandonment and breaking down your barriers after finding something great. All of these topics are soundtracked by shout-along choruses and punchy riffs. 

Two Times Shy is made up of childhood best friends Douglas Hudswell (vocals/guitar) and Cameron Nerney (drums) and filled out by bassist Jaden Wales and lead guitarist Adam (Wes) Snyder.

The band commented on the release, “We titled our EP ‘It Looks Better Than It Sounds’ because each track on the EP describes moments throughout the journey of love and relationships. Each song ties in to showcase a story of love, loss, and relationships and it all appears beautiful on the outside, but behind closed doors, there’s much more going on.”

The EP contains high-octane punk-rock energy, explosive emo rock songs, and some melancholic acoustic guitar-led moments in the final two tracks, which will surely satisfy even elder emos.

To celebrate the release of It Looks Better Than It Sounds, we caught up with Two Times Shy and they went through the release for us, track-by-track.

It Looks Better Than It Sounds (EP)

The artwork for all of our singles and the EP is an old-school cuckoo clock. The classic ornate alarm clock/cuckoo clock, firstly, is a metaphor for the album title (It Looks Better Than It Sounds) as it’s a beautiful object that’s designed to alarm you/wake you up. 

There are 2 main characters in the piece, with the male and female acting as the figurines that traditionally mechanically come out of the clock when the alarm sounds. 

There is a slight contemporary edge that ties into the whole metaphor of the release about love, loss, and relationships and it all appears beautiful on the outside, but behind closed doors, there’s much more going on. Overall, the artworks have a mature and striking feel, with an iconic edge that is unique but directly ties into the tracks, which tells a story through the artwork and all links together nicely. 

Lonely

Lonely was our debut single. Released in August of 2022, Lonely is written about not wanting to be alone, or “lonely”, and without love. Lonely tells the story of someone who does not want to be left without love or alone, how being ‘lonely’ makes them feel and what lonely means in the context of the relationship.

You And I

You And I was our second single off of our EP, It Looks Better Than It Sounds, released in October 2022. You And I is written about a relationship that is failing and the individual in the relationship who is struggling to come to terms with the reality of that because they love them so much. They’re utterly consumed, overwhelmed and scared of the impending doom, not knowing what to do, what to say, or, how to possibly save the relationship, even though they have so much to say. 

Tearing Up Inside

Tearing Up Inside is our third single off our upcoming EP It Looks Better Than it Sounds. It is written about a relationship breakdown and how it feels to go through something so tormenting and heartbreaking. Watching the one you love slip away, fall into the arms of someone else when there is nothing you can do about it; and although it tears you apart, you still love them and want to/will do everything you can to fix it. No matter how hard you try, the relationship meets its inevitable doom.

I’m Ready This Time

I’m Ready This Time is our favourite off of this EP. This song took the longest for us to finish (it almost got scrapped before we did), but we are so glad that we persevered. This song tells a story of how two people met and fell in love, but one didn’t feel ready for a relationship. They soon found out they made a mistake and wanted them back telling them how they were ready this time. 

Tearing Up Inside (Acoustic Version)

Tearing Up Inside (Acoustic Version) is the last song off of our upcoming EP. We took the opportunity to flesh out the original song, slowing it down, adding acoustic guitars, more percussion, piano and beautiful backing vocals. This really helped us draw attention to and emphasise the emotion in the lyrics. This enables the listener to engage with the heartache behind the loud distorted guitars and drums in the original song. This version is for the emo at heart. 

It Looks Better Than It Sounds is out now. You can stream it here.