The sheer confidence that Brampton, Ontario-bred R&B artist Rhyan Douglas exudes on his debut EP can ultimately be measured by what the record lacks: Many of its nine tracks come unadorned with beats, percussion or rhythms of any kind. As someone who spent much of his childhood singing in church choirs, Douglas recognises that all you need is an outsized voice and minimal instrumentation to reach the divine. On Circles, he embeds his vocals in a daydreamy haze of lustrous harmonies, humming organ lines and, most notably, acoustic guitars. “My roots are in gospel,” Douglas tells Apple Music, “but my upbringing in school was a lot of folk music, country music and singer-songwriters, so I kind of stepped into that.” He likes to call his music “folk soul”, occupying the space between the cathedral and the campfire through songs that balance the amorous rush of young love and the existential introspection that besets carefree youth as they enter adulthood. But for all the nostalgic qualities of his sound and subject matter, Douglas isn’t opposed to adding some modern touches—a little AutoTune here, a lot of head-spinning surrealist production effects there—that firmly ground his music in the here and now. As he says, “It’s that whole sentiment of: I know where I’m coming from, but here’s where I’m growing and what I’m becoming.” Here, Douglas gives a track-by-track spin of Circles. “Spin the Block” “I made this about this girl I was talking to for a little bit. It ended mutually, but it was definitely a situation where I wanted her to spin the block [i.e., resume the relationship]. I knew I wasn’t going to do it, so I wanted her to make it happen. Ultimately, it’s about knowing I really lost something, and I really wanted it to come back, but I wasn’t going out of my way to fix it. That’s the teenage-boy selfishness in me.” “Young & Reckless” “I left school around grade 11. I didn’t even go to prom. It was a time in my life where I was just being young and dumb and bending the rules a little bit, and always coming home late. I was really in my discovery phase of like, ‘What is this thing people call liberty? I guess I’m actually doing whatever I want right now when I’m supposed to be in school.’ So, this is about that trial-and-error phase of being a teen.” “Found” “This is about a girl living in New York and me almost falling in love with her, but also me realising that this distance was the only barrier. And despite that, she lived in my head rent-free, knowing that I can’t be with her, but I really want to talk to her. And that’s just life. There’s never a happy ending...or else I wouldn’t be making music.” “Conversations” “‘Conversations’ is just a blur. I went to Vancouver one time and bumped into a girl at a party, and then, from there on, we were together pretty much every day until I left. And in the midst of that, I was recording, and she would sit in on every session. She was pretty respectful, and I really appreciated that. But our time together was pretty much built into this song. Our conversations led to this song called ‘Conversations.’ She was basically my muse for this record.” “In the Garden” “This song really goes back to my roots, in terms of instruments, which is just piano and organ—that’s usually what we had in church growing up. I had one of my homies from Toronto pull up to a session in LA, and there was an organ in there, and that’s what he first started playing—because he played in church, too, before he even met me. So, we were bumping a lot of Stevie Wonder songs, and we ended up just finding that pocket in between gospel and R&B. I wanted to talk about home and how it feels being away for months for the first time.” “Afro Blue” “This is just reflecting again on that summer and that need for love during that phase of discovery. It’s about looking for love, getting heartbroken and realising some things aren’t as they seem. With this record specifically, I really wanted to pay tribute to André 3000.” “Sunnie D” “I took a trip to LA and stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel, and it felt like a movie situation. And then, later that trip, I went to Malibu with my homie, and we secluded ourselves in a room. We played with a few beats, and one of them was the beat for ‘Sunnie D’. I was getting very sick, and this was the last day I had my voice, so I tried my hardest to just get the record done. I had my eyes closed, and I just threw paint at a blank canvas and came up with this. I’m looking at my own faults: ‘It’s getting harder to look in the mirror/I’m a mess in disguise of a hero/Are we cool, love?/I just want to cater to you.’” I’m saying, ‘Take me as I am.’ It’s almost like going back to the Bible: ‘Come as you are. I know I’m a mess in disguise, but I’m gonna try to be the best I can for you.’” “Holy Child” “When people say you’re gifted, or God chose you—that’s the Holy Child. But as much as you may feel like you’re the man on the moon, you’re still a son or little brother to somebody. And despite all the cool shit I got going on—the music, the awards, the cool clothes, the parties, the cars—I’ve still got my own shit going on at home, and I should never forget that. So, this song keeps me human. Despite everything going on, I still need to take care of my family. I still need to be there. I’m still human. I’m still Rhyan. I’m still a brother to my sister and son to my mother.” “Last Page” “I was at the studio by myself, and a bunch of my homies pulled up in the room. And I was like, ‘Yo, I’m trying to watch a movie.’ And one of my boys was like, ‘Yo, let’s make some shit.’ It was just a joke, honestly—it was just a fun song that we just created for shits and giggles. But I ended up building it up after, as I went to LA and met new producers and new musicians that could help me. I actually have four versions of the song, but I realised the more simplified one is what cuts more deeply to the people. And I felt like this was the start of my folk-soul journey.”