TOBY HOBART ANNOUNCES HIS NEW EP 'THOSE THREE WORDS' + DROPS 'GOES SO FAST'

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Toby Hobart has always written from an exposed place, but Goes So Fast shows a songwriter becoming more comfortable with what to do with that vulnerability.

The Brisbane artist’s latest single, and the first look at his forthcoming EP Those Three Words, is built around the slow realisation that a relationship is ending. There’s no spectacular fallout here. Instead, Hobart focuses on the awkward silence that comes before it; the distance that grows between two people when neither is willing to name what’s happening.

“This song's about that feeling when someone starts pulling away before they've said a single word,” she says of the track. “You both know, but neither of you wants to be the one to say it and make it real. It's not some big dramatic moment either…it's much quieter than that. It just slowly drains the colour out of everything, bit by bit, until one day it's too much to ignore. Writing this taught me something I probably should've already known: the longer you hang onto something, the harder it gets to let go. One of those lessons that means nothing until you've actually lived through it.”

Vocally, Hobart sounds considerably more assured, with polished runs woven naturally into the performance rather than used simply to show range. There’s a sense that he knows when to hold back, too, allowing the emotion to sit in the delivery rather than forcing it. The songwriting has taken a similar step forward. The pre-chorus carries one of the track’s strongest melodies, the kind that stays with you without announcing itself as a hook. It’s a small detail, but an important one: Hobart is becoming more instinctive at writing pop songs that work on both an emotional and melodic level.

Produced by Hobart, with James Angus returning as executive producer, Goes So Fast blends polished pop with R&B touches without losing the intimacy of its subject matter. More importantly, it feels like a record made by an artist with a clearer sense of his strengths.

With Those Three Words on the horizon, “Goes So Fast” feels like a useful marker of where Hobart is now. The ambition is still there, but it’s matched by a greater command of his craft; his vocals are more assured, the melodies more memorable, and the writing more willing to sit in the grey areas of emotion. After a year of rapid momentum, Hobart isn’t simply building on what came before; he’s starting to sound like an artist with a much clearer sense of what comes next.

Those Three Words is out November 13.