Laura Musgrave gives heartbreak a pop-rock glow on debut EP 'The Longest Time'

Across its five tracks, Laura Musgrave's debut EP 'The Longest Time' works through love, disappointment, confidence and vulnerability with punchy guitars and confessional writing at the centre. There's an obvious affection for the era of Avril Lavigne and soundtrack-ready guitar pop, but the artist at the helm avoids making the EP feel like a simple nostalgia exercise.

Instead, the EP uses those influences as a framework for its own relationship stories. Lead single 'Crumbs' introduces that approach with a more self-assured edge, while ‘Inevitably’ moves towards something more openly emotional. Elsewhere, 'Blood On My Tongue' and 'We Can't Lose' complete the wider picture of the EP, helping frame 'The Longest Time' as a broader study of modern relationships rather than a project constructed around one emotional register.

Her writing is strongest when it allows confidence and uncertainty to sit beside one another. The EP isn't simply about heartbreak, nor is it built entirely around empowerment. It's interested in the more complicated space between the two, where connection can be exciting, frustrating and difficult to interpret all at once.

Producer and mixing engineer Becky Willard helps give that material a clean, energetic setting, keeping the guitars prominent without losing the intimacy of the lyrics.

Ultimately, 'The Longest Time' clearly understands the appeal of the pop-rock records that inspired it, but Laura Musgrave isn't interested in reproducing them note for note. With each track all contributing different pieces to the relationship-driven concept, this EP is a confident introduction to an artist who knows how to make emotional honesty feel immediate without losing the hook underneath.