In the spring of 2022, B.C. rap wunderkind Powfu embarked on his first proper North American headlining trek, which he dubbed the Flooding the Gates tour—an apt advertisement for an artist whose prolific stream of output can resemble a bursting dam. But while many musicians treat their first tour as an opportunity to party hard and sleep late, Powfu made the most of his tour-bus downtime by cutting an EP in the vehicle’s back lounge with fellow lo-fi-rap travellers Ouse and Snøw. Far from sounding like an off-the-cuff quickie, the Flooding the Gates EP sees these three sad-rap aficionados seamlessly integrate in true misery-loves-company fashion. The trio trade self-lacerating verses on the opening “wallflower”, but the track’s pop-punk hooks, skittering beats and chiming melodic refrains are strategically layered into an ascendent anthem—it’s a song that hinges on the lyric “I feel awful” and yet feels so good. The acoustic lullaby “don’t wanna lose you” leans deep into unplugged emo. The subject matter never strays far from Powfu’s typical broken-hearted territory, but the trio’s interlocking flows and eclectic production palette—spanning acoustic emo lullabies (“don’t wanna lose you”), dreamlike soundscapes (“see what i see”, “hold me”) and synth-powered street prowls (“welcome to my world”)—frame these familiar scenes in fresh, unpredictable ways.