After an 18-day deep freeze in Northeast Ohio, “Raspberry”, featuring Chayla Hope and Other Animal, arrives as a breath of fresh spring air. Recorded at Peppermint Studios in Youngstown, the song is marked by a vintage aesthetic that could only be captured at one of the oldest analog studios in the country.
The EP is available through Wax Mage Records digitally and on seven-inch vinyl in limited colorways, a signature style of the local company. Prior to turning to music full-time, Hope pressed vinyl by day at Gotta Grove Records and performed at Bounce by night. She still often presses her own vinyl, as was the case with her previous albums, “Damn, Feelings” and “Mess of a Woman.”
Nearly four years after reintroducing herself as a solo artist, Hope remains steadfast in her ability to set herself apart by narrowing her lane to powerful pop anthems. From “Alone” to “Delusional,” Hope has further solidified herself as the city’s pop princess with the release of this EP.
Credit: Lindsey Poyar
“While we were collaborating, I started to write a little bit and Joe [Tomino from Other Animal] kept offering us raspberries, like, all day,” Hope said about the song’s inspiration. It’s about difficult female friendships and how someone can be “more sour than sweet,” she said, quoting the lyrics of the song. “I don’t know why I keep them in my life, but I love them from afar.”
“[This was] a lot different for me. It’s totally organic and we played live in a room with all these amazing players,” Hope said. “We all played at the same time and it is such a different vibe than what I normally do.”
Accompanying “Raspberry” is the EP’s B-side, “If I Can’t,” also written by Hope. She wrote the track a while ago, and it happened to perfectly balance out the project as a whole. The two tracks feature local musicians like bassist Joe Botta, background vocalists Wesley Bright and Christine Fader, baritone saxophonist David Kasper, keyboardist Marcelino “Mars” Quiroz, trombonist William Washington (Mourning [A] BLKstar), and trumpeter VanDarrel Woods.
Credit: Lindsey Poyar
Hope, who previously belonged to Cleveland’s indie rock band Seafair, has been making music locally for most of her life. She’s always wanted to make music with Other Animal, and considers herself “very lucky” that they contacted her for the project.
In terms of what’s next, Hope has her hands in several different cookie jars, including a ballad version of 2025 power-pop anthem “Keep You” that she recorded in her personal studio.
“I’m not going anywhere, let’s just put it that way,” she said.