On “A Nice Neighborhood to Have Bad Habits In,” a six song, 22 minute EP steeped in loss, addiction, family conflict, fear, love and the chaos of everyday life, Ryan Yingst makes the hard stuff sound honest and deeply human. Instead of forcing these subjects into easy answers, Yingst lets them be what they are, creating music that feels contemplative without going too deep. His indie-folk base is supplemented by hints of ’90s rock, live-band verve and intimate home-studio production, giving the project a personal quality that is fitting to its subject. As you travel through the EP, you get the sense that these songs were collected from different chapters of one life, not meant to tell one perfectly connected story. It gives the feeling that the experience is natural as real life too seldom comes in neat sections.
The trip starts with a sense of dissatisfaction, change and looking for somewhere new with “Canary In The Coal Mine." Written around Yingst’s move from Nashville to Philadelphia, the song captures his changing relationship with the music industry and the environment around him, giving it a restless feel that works with the idea of closing one chapter. “If I Don’t Have You” is more playful from there, with a ’90s rock influence and tongue-in-cheek take on unhealthy love that adds some much-needed levity. Drummers Johnny Richeson and bassist Stefan Kuriga help revive the energy of Yingst’s live performances, and this one feels especially immediate. But that brighter spirit gives way to "The Tallest Trees," which is much more reflective in mood. The song is written around the stories of people rebuilding their lives after the loss of partners during COVID and looks at grief, mortality and the frightening question of how to carry on after devastating change. Its presence gives the EP a more subdued emotional weight without sacrificing the intimacy established earlier.
Then “Dopamine” shifts perspective in an interesting way, treating addiction by making the addictive substance itself a character almost cheering on its victim to recover. That strange notion gives another emotional angle to the song and makes us think about addiction in a way that is not simply about guilt or blame. “Ordinary Means” then continues the EP’s focus on the hard truths, another thoughtful piece in a collection made of important moments rather than a rigid idea. It’s part of the larger conversation the record creates about survival, self-discovery and finding meaning in painful situations. Ending with "We Were Once Wild," Yingst moves the EP toward nostalgia and family history. The song started up after his parents split and then revived when a guitar idea had sparked a rush of memories; it feels like a natural ending to a project concerned with change and what remains with us. Across all six songs, “A Nice Neighborhood to Have Bad Habits In” creates space for hard experiences without judgment, and we’re left with music that finds beauty not in the denial of hardship but in the honest facing of it.
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