Sad Songs You Can Dance To: KyleKelly’s melancholic romcom Is Here
Written by: Keyali Mikaela
Today marks the release of melancholic romcom, the debut EP from rising alt-pop artist kylekelly. With a sound that blends infectious pop melodies and raw emotional storytelling, Kyle invites listeners into a cinematic world inspired by ‘90s rom-coms, heartbreak, and self-discovery. Currently on tour with Daniel Seavey, he’s been turning heads with his high-energy performances and genre-blurring tracks. We caught up with Kyle ahead of his EP drop to talk about vulnerability in songwriting, unexpected tour rituals, and why BuzzFeed Unsolved is the secret to a good night’s sleep.
Next Wave: So your EP is coming out today. You say you pull from a lot of '90s rom-coms and shows like Friends. What characters or couples inspire you the most when you're writing?
kylekelly: It's less about when I'm writing and more so just like story arc and aesthetic, I guess. I would definitely say the four main characters of 10 Things I Hate About You. I see very much of myself in Kat, Patrick, and Cameron.
Next Wave: Going off of that—what character from 10 Things I Hate About You do you think would give you the best relationship advice?
kylekelly: Probably… none of them. That’s probably the best answer. I don’t even think I could come up with one.
Next Wave: "It Always Ends the Same" is a very danceable song, but clearly the lyrics are a little more painful. How do you strike that balance between heartbreak and playfulness?
kylekelly: I love my lyrics to be layered, where people kind of have to listen to them more than once. I don't like being on the nose. I try to create a story and have music that works with the story, but I like the whole “sad lyrics, happy music” sort of thing. This one was kind of about striking that balance of, okay, I know I wanted it to be funky and danceable but still moody. And I think that took a while to figure out how to get right.
Next Wave: You nailed it. It’s my favorite. We listened to it on the way up here. It’s a banger. Do you think there’s a lot of that on the EP too—kind of striking that middle ground?
kylekelly: Yeah. I think "OMG" is a huge one that people love, and it's super danceable and kind of head-banging, but it’s probably my most vulnerable. A lot of them, at first glance, are really fun, and then you read the lyrics and you're like, “Oh, this is kind of dark.” Like, I’m having a good time, but… am I really?
Next Wave: What do you think was the hardest song on the EP to write, either emotionally or musically?
kylekelly: "It Always Ends the Same," definitely the hardest. It was the hardest to write because it was something I didn't want to admit to. I didn't want to be vulnerable. It was the hardest to get correct musically, too. Most of the songs we recorded in a day, and this one took all week.
Next Wave: That one came out before the EP. Do you take all of that into consideration when you’re choosing what to put out as a single?
kylekelly: I don't think that’s much of a consideration for me. I think the fact that it’s my favorite was definitely a factor. When you’re looking at an EP, the singles kind of pop out at you. This one was particularly hard, because all of them kind of live in their own space, and I can kind of see all of them as singles. So really, what I tried to do was ask, “Okay, which one do I think should be the last single?” And then I did as many as I could up until the EP comes out.
Next Wave: Is there a lyric on the EP—or even from a past release—that hits you in the chest every time you sing it?
kylekelly: There’s one song… this one’s popping out at me most. There are two lyrics in a song called “What If I Never Get Over You?” That lyric in particular is just hard to say. The first time I played it, after we finished recording it, we listened back and I just started bawling for like 30 minutes. It was the first time I cried in a long time. That hook always hurts because it’s a question I don’t like thinking about. Then there’s one line in the pre-chorus: “I’m blacking out and pacing around my bedroom just trying to remember to forget you,” and that one always hurts.
Next Wave: Definitely similar vibes between the two. So, obviously, you're supporting Daniel on tour. What’s something you've learned from him—either from watching or being on the road with him?
Credit: Ashley Crichton
kylekelly: My god. I do the barricade thing now, where I only do it in the last song. He does it during almost every song. I came off stage in Seattle—I think it was Seattle—and Tyler, his brother, was backstage with me. He just goes, “You out of breath?” and I was like, “I don’t know how he does it for an hour and a half.” Cardio has been a big one. I think musicianship, too—me and my entire band have watched his set every night. Just seeing his ability to do everything by himself with the loop pedal—even when he’s done tracks with his drummer—it’s all so well choreographed musically, which I think is just the coolest thing ever.
Next Wave: And you’ve worked with producers who have collaborated with people like Avril Lavigne and Lana Del Rey. What was it like being in the studio with them? Was it nerve-wracking?
kylekelly: One of the producers is my manager, so I was very comfortable with him. The other producer, Brandon—I wasn’t uncomfortable so much as I was like, “Oh, I’m about to do an entire set of songs, an entire project, with a guy I’ve literally never met before.” We were in Nashville for a month and a half. That was it. We moved to Nashville, and I was going to work with this guy I’d never even had a conversation with. I think I just got incredibly lucky that he and I are like the same person. He and I are very—not in a bad way—but kind of cold, sarcastic, straight to the punch. And my manager is not at all. He’s very silly. He’d crack a joke and both Brandon and I would just look at him and be like, “…anyway.” It just wound up working really well. I go back to see him anytime I can. He was actually at the LA show and surprised me by coming. I couldn’t have been more confused.
Next Wave: That must’ve been a relief—being in Nashville for a month with someone and realizing, “Oh, thank God, we get along.”
kylekelly: Yeah, though he can be pretty hard-headed. There were definitely times we really—butted heads, especially with “It Always Ends the Same,” actually, because that one meant so much to me. I wrote that one by myself. So when I brought it to him and he wanted to make changes, I was like, “I don’t want to do that.” We fought about it for a while. But once we got into a rhythm, maybe a week and a half into the month, we’ve been set since. I do everything with him. The cover we play—“Hot and Cold”—I also do with him.
Next Wave: Do you have any unexpected tour rituals or pre-show superstitions?
kylekelly: I always have to pee—like, three or four times before we go on. There’s a tea that my lovely tour manager Linda makes for me before every show. Sometimes I don’t drink it because I can’t find hot water. And our pre-show ritual—this started in San Francisco—is a chant we call “Four on Three,” which we think is hilarious. It’s literally just: “One, two, three, four.”
Next Wave: You say you fall asleep to music. What’s on your current sleeping playlist?
Kylekelly: Recently I haven’t listened to much music. I’ve had this phrase I’ve been using the past couple months: “music isn’t music.” The only thing I’ve really been listening to the past few months—outside of Daniel’s album when it came out—is this Spanish-Irish singer named El Covés. Very small artist. She opened for Niall Horan, and her EP is amazing. She has this one single that also came out—it’s the only thing I can listen to. Outside of that, I’ve been falling asleep to true crime YouTube videos. BuzzFeed Unsolved.
Next Wave: BuzzFeed Unsolved. Ryan and Shane? Those are the homeboys. Last question: What advice would you give your younger self, back when you were gigging around New York at 17?
Kylekelly: Wow. I think the first thing I’d say is: stop being so hard on yourself. Not everyone can be famous when like… Shawn Mendes was famous. Not everybody can be famous at 14—let’s take a jump. I think I was too rigid with myself for a long time, right up until I met my manager. I was pretty rigid with what I wanted to do musically. Then I kind of came back around, where the thing I didn’t want to do I ended up doing because I was like, “Why am I trying to be something else?” I’d tell myself: stop being so hard on yourself about your ability to gain traction at a young age. And stop being so hard on yourself about the things you want to do—not everything is cringey. There’s not just one way to get where you’re going.
From layered lyrics to stage-diving cardio, kylekelly is proving he’s just getting started. melancholic romcom is out today on all streaming platforms—an honest, hook-filled collection that captures the highs, lows, and in-betweens of young love and self-growth. Whether you're dancing to the beat or decoding the heartbreak between the lines, this EP is one to have on repeat.
Listen to melancholic romcom here
