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Mary Jennings’ Pyrotechnicolor doesn’t sound like a collection of songs written to fit a trend or a moment, it sounds like a release. These tracks were written over ten years, and you can feel that time in every note. The title track crystallizes the EP’s emotional thesis in one striking moment, as Jennings sings, “oh do you want to stay for the show, watch it as it all explodes, in pyrotechnicolor, incendiary under, already violent skies, watch it as it fries.” The line captures the song’s tension perfectly, inviting the listener to witness emotional collapse not as chaos alone, but as something vivid, dangerous, and impossible to look away from. The song simmers, pulling the listener inward and setting up the emotional fire that fuels the EP.
That fire grows louder On “Phoenix on Fire,” Jennings distills the song’s emotional core into a striking moment of self-reckoning, singing, “A phoenix on fire, rise beyond higher, I’m in control, And I know, I can be cruel, I can be mean, I can be human, monster, machine, kill you slow , Or let you go.” The line captures the tension between power and vulnerability, acknowledging the capacity for destruction while choosing release over revenge. On “Smolders,” Jennings distills lingering love into a single, quietly devastating refrain “My heart Smolders over you, No matter what I do, it’s all so close in the rear view , You and I blazing blue , Looking over my shoulder, My heart still Smolders” The line captures the song’s emotional core, where past and present blur, and love refuses to cool, even when it’s already behind her.
“Drown in the Desert” is one of the EP’s darkest tracks, leaning into isolation and emotional depletion. It’s heavy without being overwrought, relying on atmosphere and pacing rather than volume. That sense of tension carries into “Take a Number,” which shifts focus outward, sounding sharper and more confrontational. The track feels shaped by frustration—with systems, with expectations, with emotional burnout—while still maintaining Jennings’ signature vulnerability.
The EP closes with “Burn,” a fitting final statement that doesn’t seek closure so much as honesty. Rather than resolving everything neatly, it allows the fire to exist as both destruction and survival. Pyrotechnicolor is an emotionally grounded, carefully crafted EP that reflects Mary Jennings at her most unfiltered. It’s not just a listen—it’s a lived-in experience, shaped by loss, resilience, and the courage to let the flames show.
