8lanco’s HILLS N’ BACK EP Feels Like a Chapter You’ve Lived Before

There’s a quiet kind of intimacy in pressing play on a new EP with no one else around, just you and the sound. No distractions, no one else’s opinion filling the room. That’s how I sat with HILLS N’ BACK. Five songs, all in their own lane but held together by something you can’t quite name. Maybe it’s 8lanco’s voice. Maybe it’s the way the production breathes like it's been around longer than you have.

‘Hell of It’ opens the door with a smirk. There’s this rhythm that makes it feel like you're sliding into a memory too fast to catch. It’s sharp but effortless. Like a conversation you’re trying to keep cool in, even though everything’s burning under the surface. The way 8lanco delivers his lines feels instinctual. Like he’s been here before. Like he’s telling the story to himself as much as he is to us.

Then ‘Actress’ slows things down. Not like a breakup song. Not exactly. It sounds more like what comes after, when you’re sitting with everything that didn’t go how it was supposed to. The hook doesn’t try to shout, but it lands anyway. There’s something about the pauses. The breaths between the words feel real. It’s quiet but not hollow. Full of things left unsaid.

‘Rehab’ is the one I kept going back to. It’s catchy, but not in a throwaway way. The beat hits just right, but what stays is the feeling underneath. The lyric “Take all my exes and put them bitches into rehab” caught me off guard the first time. It’s bold, maybe even funny, but the longer it plays, the more it reveals. It’s about projection. Illusion. The stories we tell ourselves to avoid looking too close in the mirror. It’s not pretending to have the answers. It’s just laying the mess out and letting it be heard.

HILLS N’ BACK doesn’t chase perfection. It’s more interested in showing what’s under the surface. What happens when the crowd’s gone. When you’re left with your own voice echoing back at you.

If you’ve ever felt a little lost in your own life, this one will probably make sense. Stream the EP and follow 8lanco wherever he goes next. He’s got more stories to tell.

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