In the midst of navigating that whirlwind success, GAYLE headed back into the studio to create a study of the human experience volume two—a powerful new EP that doubles down on its predecessor’s unapologetic truth-telling, revealing even more of her inner world and cementing her status as a singular and immediately fascinating songwriter.

“With this new EP I wanted to go a little deeper and tell more of my story, to give more context for why I am the way I am,” says GAYLE. “I want people to know that I’ve definitely had those moments where the world feels so confusing and unpredictable, and that no one is alone in what they’re feeling or going through.”

Made with producers like Noah Conrad, Ryan Linvill, and Pete Nappi, a study of the human experience volume two contains such deeply personal songs as “god has a sense of humor”—a heavy-hearted yet quietly epic piano ballad with an existentialist bent. “I wasn’t really raised with religion, and at some point I realized that other people have this belief system that helps them to understand why bad things happen,” says GAYLE. “That song is about wanting to have hope, and being torn between a pessimistic and optimistic perspective on the world. Because at the end of the day, I want to believe that we’re all just doing our best.” 

Expanding on the wildly carefree spirt of “abcdefu,” a study of the human experience volume two embodies a more lighthearted mood on “indieedgycool,” a brilliantly sardonic and bass-heavy track. “That title came from making fun of the pressure I put on myself sometimes to try to be cool,” says GAYLE. “I wanted to poke fun at the idea of there being a hierarchy of coolness, and to put on the persona of someone who takes that too seriously.” The EP’s most blissfully upbeat song, “snow angels” came to life with a bit of serendipitous help from GAYLE’s big brother. “It can be so easy to spiral out about the state of the world and how stressful and terrifying everything is, but you still need those moments of just having fun with your friends,” she says. “I wrote a whole song about that concept and then I talked to my brother, and he told me something like, ‘If I’m gonna be partying, I just wanna make snow angels in the grass.’ It fit so perfectly with the song, I had to go back and rewrite it.” And on “fmk,” blackbear joins GAYLE for a playfully chaotic duet speaking to the ups and downs of obsession. “I got blackbear to jump on the track, and turned it into duet about loving someone so intensely but also being intensely annoyed by them,” she says.