Penelope Road, a five-member band hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, is slowly emerging into the limelight after the release of their self-titled EP in May of 2024. Since then, members Max Moore, Charles Eastman, Koan Roy-Meighoo, James Kopp, and Anthony Smith have announced a Summer Tour and will be opening act for indie-alt band Lake Street Dive and the Dead & Company-inspired rock band Goose.

“We’re just writing all the time. Whatever works, works. Every song that we write feels like it gets more and more at Penelope Road. Something cool is coming together. It’s just going to take a little time,” said Penelope Road in conversation with WUOG 90.5 FM, a student-run media outlet at the University of Georgia. Their first attempt at crafting this cohesion is the group’s first EP, “Penelope Road.” 

The four-song and sixteen-minute-long EP blends groovy jazz with omnipresent remnants of modern funk, proving that Penelope Road is a group to keep an eye on. The opening track, “What Can I Do,” begins with synthy hums before erupting into jazzy vibrance. Members Eastman and Kopp, who share songwriting credits for the song, craft a sentiment of yearning that is similarly palpable during other moments of the project. “I’m sending flowers to your doorstep / I hope you put them centerfold / I’ve waited months for you to send / Something back to me / Loving you is my fool’s gold,” writes Eastman and Kopp. The subject of such bitter rumination of love and love lost follows through the chorus, but with an incessant reminder that their muse can not leave their mind. 

In keeping with such themes, Penelope Road skillfully crafts the transition into the next track, “Tired of Love.” If the clarity of losing interest was not fully cemented, “Tired of Love” follows the inevitable emotion that accompanies such loss: “I can’t walk these streets without your shadow in my reflection / Say goodbye, it’s done.” Lyrically, Penelope Road captures the progression from grieving a relationship to a state of limbo, wavering between revisiting the past and moving forward. The erratic back-and-forth of this process is mirrored in the song’s musical composition: an eruption of instrumental blends and a keyboard that feels straight out of a Steely Dan album. Both aspects of the song’s composition come together to showcase its heart and soul, marking a smooth transition into the next track. 

“Mercy” is a slower track on the EP that enhances Penelope Road’s musical repertoire. The first verse features harmonies that layer the expressive delicacy of the track’s message: disorientation and the regret of missed opportunities. Feeling overwhelmed amid life’s adversities while begging for mercy is a message with broad universality for many, added with the notion of toxic masculinity. “Call out for mercy / I’m begging you please, oh please / And if I’m a man, I shouldn’t need it / But I’m desperate, desperate to treat it.” Societal expectations often dictate when and who should ask for help. However, the band candidly admits a desperate need to transcend such limitations. 

The EP’s closer, “2009,” is filled with contemplative nostalgia that reflects on the passing of time in the midst of life’s cyclical progression. While time can fly faster than we would likely admit, it is the only way self-discovery and growth are achievable. There is a sort of ambivalence in looking back on the past, while it is where hope becomes possible, it can hinder advancement, making it all the more important to “come back around” and uncover what truly matters. Penelope Road effectively captures youth optimism that contemplates the human experience in a way that translates hope as a defining factor toward growth. While the ensemble released their EP last year, they have continued to release music. Their latest single, “Out Tonight,” was released May 16. 

Their newest single, “Flowers (Carry me home)” is being released on June 20. You can catch Penelope Road at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park on June 22 and August 14 in NYC’s Bowery Ballroom.

Image taken from Warner Records