goodtoknow – I’LL STAY (2025)
Conceived during a spontaneous studio gathering in Mexico City, I’LL STAY unfolds less like a polished debut and more like an intimate exchange you’ve happened to step into at just the right moment. The project, born of the combined artistry of Paula Prieto, Benjamín Walker, Sir Hope, and Mariano Gillio, doesn’t rely on image, grand statements, or calculated intent. Instead, it captures something far rarer: a fleeting spark preserved in its most natural form. Across five tracks and a concise sixteen minutes, goodtoknow channel the delicate alchemy of true collaboration, shaping songs that feel tender, genuine, and quietly luminous.
The sound palette throughout I’LL STAY draws on soft indie-pop and the intimate vulnerability of alternative folk. It is music that doesn’t try to dazzle with production tricks or grand gestures, but instead leans into restraint, delicate guitars, hushed percussion, and harmonies that seem to hover in the air like a shared breath. For fans of Flyte, Big Thief, or Lizzy McAlpine, there’s a familiar gentleness here, but goodtoknow bring a freshness born of their very process: this is music made with no agenda except honesty.
‘October’, one of the EP’s standout tracks, captures the bittersweet melancholy of seasonal change. Its textures are light and spacious, but the emotional weight is undeniable, carried by subtle vocal inflections that evoke both loss and acceptance. Then comes ‘Burn’, the project’s centerpiece and emotional anchor. Written in a single evening, the song feels raw in a way that can’t be replicated. Its lyrics unfold like an unfiltered confession, its melodies understated yet piercing. Lingering long after listening, the track embodying goodtoknow’s ethos: songs that don’t simply entertain but resonate at a deeper, necessary level.
What makes I’LL STAY remarkable is its sense of authenticity. Too often, debut projects arrive weighted with expectation, eager to declare a band’s identity in broad, definitive strokes. goodtoknow resist that urge. Instead, they allow the EP to remain what it was at its inception: friends in a room, chasing the spark of inspiration together. This lack of pretence is its greatest strength. You can hear the trust between the musicians, the way each voice and instrument leaves space for the others, as though the songs themselves were guiding the session rather than the other way around.
The intimacy of the collection is undeniable. Listening feels like being welcomed into a circle, not as an audience member kept at a distance, but as a participant in something shared. The title itself, I’LL STAY, reflects this spirit: a promise of presence, of holding space, of remaining open to what unfolds.
In the end, goodtoknow live up to their name. They are not a band vying for attention with bombast or spectacle, but a reminder of what music can be when stripped back to its essence: connection, vulnerability, truth. I’LL STAY is a debut that whispers rather than shouts, but it leaves a lasting impression, the kind that makes you grateful you stayed to listen.
Find out more about goodtoknow on their official website, Instagram, and Spotify.
