Heartbreak can be loud, messy and theatrical, but on Hopeless Romantic, Portsmouth, Virginia artist ninemansion takes a more intimate route, turning longing into something that feels almost like a private archive. Across the EP, love lingers through unanswered calls, recurring memories, guilt and the stubborn inability to simply move on. ninemansion sounds like he is still caught inside the feeling, trying to make sense of it as it happens.
The opening title track, “Hopeless Romantic (Crying Rivers),” immediately sets that mood with deep, heavy bass beneath shimmery, dreamy textures. There is something beautifully off-kilter about the contrast: the production glitters while ninemansion’s high, husky voice circles obsessively around a woman he cannot forget. His hypnotic delivery borders on demented, giving the song the sensation of being trapped inside a thought that keeps replaying itself. It is romantic, sure, but there is a darker fixation lurking underneath.
That emotional contradiction carries into “Falling,” where he sings, “It’s on silent when you call me / You hurt me but I’m sorry,” capturing the distance and attachment existing at the same time. ninemansion lets silence, missed communication and small contradictions do the heavy lifting.
Then comes “Wasted,” where the mood turns softer without losing its bass-heavy foundation. Over the same shimmering sonic palette, ninemansion sings more harmoniously, sounding completely smitten—hooked, dazzled and caught in that unmistakable butterflies-in-the-stomach stage of infatuation. The sweetness makes the EP’s darker moments hit even harder.
Ultimately, Hopeless Romantic feels less like a plea to bring someone back and more like a record of what remains after they are gone. ninemansion turns that emotional residue into something dreamy, strange and deeply personal.
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Review by: Naomi Joan