7/10

Gavyn Bernhardt’s debut EP 'On the Air' arrives with a clear target in sight. Across eight tracks, the Philadelphia singer-songwriter takes aim at the increasingly claustrophobic side of online life, where algorithms, artificial content, advertising and paranoia can gradually shrink the world.

That idea gives the EP plenty of thematic weight, but he's very careful not to make it feel like a lecture. Instead, he filters those concerns through hard rock, psychedelia, blues and progressive flourishes, giving each song its own character while keeping the wider concept intact.

‘Dead Sound on the Radio’ is the most immediate statement of intent, turning frustration with AI-generated imagery and music into a broad art-rock protest. From there, ‘The Boy in a Tower’ makes the argument more personal, focusing on a young person retreating from the outside world until self-protection becomes its own form of imprisonment.

But there's considerably more bite in ‘Snake Oil / Tin Foil’. Built around heavy blues-rock, the track takes a satirical swing at online grifters, miracle cures and the endless stream of dubious promises competing for attention. Its humour gives the EP some welcome breathing room without weakening the criticism underneath.

While ‘The Masquerade’ broadens the focus again, examining the social roles and aesthetic expectations people are encouraged to occupy. By the closing title-track, however, he returns to the emotional cost of isolation, watching someone become increasingly consumed by the voices they have chosen to trust while the people around them struggle to reach through.

Recorded and produced with his brother Owen in their home-built Sightbloom Records studio, 'On the Air' has the intimacy of a genuinely independent project but the scope of something much larger.

Thoughtful, heavy and frequently sardonic, it's a strong debut from Gavyn Bernhardt; crafting a collection that treats the internet as something capable of reshaping relationships, identities and the way people understand the world around them.