{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Kill Me | type = EP | artist = Sundara Karma | cover = Kill Me - Sundara Karma.jpg | alt = | released = 24 November 2020 | recorded = June – July 2020 | venue = | studio = | genre = {{hlist|Experimental pop|hyperpop}} | length = | label = {{hlist|AWAL|Chess Club}} | producer = Clarence Clarity | prev_title = Ulfilas' Alphabet | prev_year = 2019 | next_title = Oblivion! | next_year = 2022 | misc = {{Singles | name = Kill Me | type = ep | single1 = Kill Me | single1date = 1 October 2020 | single2 = Artiface | single2date = 26 October 2020 }} }} '''''Kill Me''''' is the fourth extended play released by British indie rock band Sundara Karma. The EP was released on 24 November 2020 through Chess Club Records.
== Background and recording == Following touring in support of their sophomore album, ''Ulfilas' Alphabet'', lead singer Oscar Pollock took most of 2020 off from music. Pollock told ''NME'' in an October 2020 interview that he "got to a point where I felt lost within myself".<ref name="NME interview 2020-10-01">{{cite web |last1=Earls |first1=John |title=Sundara Karma on the depression and desire behind explosive new single 'Kill Me' and its Hannah Diamond-directed video |url=https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/sundara-karma-interview-new-single-kill-me-depression-year-out-hannah-diamond-2767507 |website=NME |access-date=3 December 2020 |date=1 October 2020}}</ref> Pollock further explained that he spent much of 2020 coping with existentialism and depression.<ref name="NME interview 2020-10-01"/> Pollock stated that ahead of the release of the EP, which was recorded throughout 2020, that it "seems to have resolved".<ref name="NME interview 2020-10-01"/>
The entire album was recorded and produced during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The songs were recorded by the band in their personal studio, while the production by Clarence Clarity was undertaken via phone calls and e-mail.<ref name="NME interview 2020-10-01"/>
== Style and composition == Oscar Pollock told ''NME'' that the EP is more expansive than the traditional guitar-driven tracks found in their first two studio albums. "[It is] vaster and less emo. I was saying over a year ago that I was ready to move on from ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’, and I had a bunch of songs kicking around. But, if I don't get given a deadline, I'll just let songs rot on a hard drive".<ref name="NME interview 2020-10-01"/>
== Critical reception == {{Music ratings | aggregate1 = ''Album of the Year'' | aggregate1score = 67/100<ref name="AOTY">{{cite web |title=Sundara Karma - Kill Me - Reviews |url=https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/298127-sundara-karma-kill-me.php |website=Album of the Year |accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref> | rev1 = ''DIY'' | rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="DIY review">{{cite web |last1=Swann |first1=Emma |title=Sundara Karma - Kill Me EP Review |url=https://diymag.com/2020/11/24/sundara-karma-kill-me-ep-review |website=DIY |access-date=3 December 2020 |date=24 November 2020}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Dork'' | rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Dork review">{{cite web |last1=Ackroyd |first1=Stephen |title=Sundara Karma - Kill Me EP |url=https://www.readdork.com/reviews/sundara-karma-kill-me-ep |website=Dork |access-date=3 December 2020 |date=24 November 2020}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Riot'' | rev3score = 4/10<ref name="riot review">{{cite web |last1=Kitto |first1=Ben |title=EP Review: Sundara Karma // Kill Me |url=https://riotmag.co/ep-review-sundara-karma-kill-me |website=Riot Magazine |access-date=21 September 2022 |date=22 November 2020}}</ref> }} ''Kill Me'' was met with mixed reviews by contemporary music critics. On review aggregator website, ''Album of the Year'', ''Kill Me'' has an average rating of 67 out of 100.<ref name="AOTY"/> Stephen Ackroyd, writing for ''Dork'' magazine, gave the album a positive review, saying that the EP, "is a collection of tracks that sends Sundara streaming into the starlight". Ackroyd further praised Clarence Clarity's production work on the album. Ackroyd summarized the EP as an exciting preamble of what could come on the band's third full-length album.<ref name="Dork review"/>
Writing for ''DIY'' magazine, Emma Swann gave the album four stars out of five. Swann called the album a sprawling album that can get lost at times, especially with Clarity's production. However, Swann said that because of the band's "knack for a hook, and love of a big chorus is what keeps 'Kill Me' from descending into total chaos".<ref name="DIY review"/>
Ben Kitto, writing for ''Riot Magazine'', was critical of the EP calling it "turgid". Kitto further critiqued the production of the record saying that "the production doesn’t do the dragging, bombastic drum line the justice it thinks it does. Meanwhile, Pollock’s vocal is less dynamic and inimitable, and more one-note. And the mess of the rest of the production drowns it out anyway." Kitto gave ''Kill Me'' a four out of ten rating.<ref name="riot review"/>
== Track listing == {{Track listing | all_music = Oscar Pollock, Dom Cordell, Ally Baty, and Haydn Evans | title1 = Kill Me | length1 = 3:41 | title2 = O Stranger | length2 = 3:22 | title3 = Your Touch | length3 = 5:09 | title4 =Artifice | length4 = 4:28 | title5 = Lifelines | length5 = 4:25 | total_length = 21:05 }}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://sundarakarma.ffm.to/killme Kill Me EP]
{{Sundara Karma}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2020 EPs Category:Sundara Karma EPs Category:Albums produced by Clarence Clarity Category:Experimental pop albums Category:Hyperpop albums