Tiny Habits are ready to break your hearts and put them back together with their soothing and vulnerable debut album. “All For Something” is a body of work that hears the Boston-based trio build an atmosphere that immediately draws you in and captures a heaviness and lightness that contrasts so simply together. From the gut wrenching ‘Wishes’ to the soul-soothing ‘Planting Flowers’, they find a balance that feels so nurturing as a listener. It’s an album that feels so warm, and you leave feeling so understood from their raw lyricism. 

I chatted with Cinya, Maya and Judah from Tiny Habits about the raw vulnerability that shines through “All For Something”, explored the creative process behind songs like ‘The Knocker’, ‘Malleable’ and ‘People Always Change’, and discussed touring with Gracie Abrams in Australia. Check out the full chat BELOW:

THOMAS BLEACH: Your debut album “All For Something” is a beautifully introspective body of work that is raw, vulnerable, and healing. When you listen back to the record in its entirety now, what feelings and thoughts overcome you?

CINYA: I’m really proud of us every time I listen to this record. I think the title of the album kind of encapsulates what the process of creating it was like; we went through a lot separately and together and oftentimes it felt like the end was very far away. But every event and experience was genuinely necessary to help shape the way this album turned out, as well as the people we became throughout making it. 

TB: The first song I want to talk about is ‘The Knocker’. The imagery behind this song mixed with your soft vocals draw the listener in so gently. Can you explain the creative process behind this track? 

CINYA:  I actually wrote this song for a songwriting class at Berklee. We had this exercise called “free writing” where someone would say a random word and we would write for an allotted amount of time and then underline any words or phrases that felt interesting enough to be part of a song or in this case, the title of it. I think the word for that one was “door”. I was in a relationship where I put a lot more effort in than I was receiving. I was literally always going to this person’s house and they would never come to me. It was such a symbolic representation of the dynamic between us. Therefore I was…. “the knocker”. This song took a long time to get right and we went through a lot of versions, constantly adding things and taking things out. We felt satisfied by the end when we sort of simplified things and let the song speak for itself. 

TB: ‘Malleable’ hears you singing “How’d you think I’d take that? Cuz you seem surprised about me crying” which is such a heartbreaking and relatable lyric. Where were you when you wrote that lyric?

CINYA: Thank you! This song means a whole lot to me. This lyric definitely breaks my own heart because it makes me remember how I felt during the time of writing this song. I was in a situation where a person would say not-so-kind things under the guise of being honest. I never understood why it was necessary. I would feel so hurt by those things and wish I hadn’t heard them at all because I would fixate on them and allow them to dictate the person I became. ‘Malleable’ is about loving someone or having an attachment to them to the point of changing and disregarding not only your needs, but the entirety of your being to allow the relationship to continue. I think I needed that experience so I could write this song and so I could figure out who I was after so much of me had been dissolved. 

TB: ‘Broken’ and ‘Planting Flowers’ both feel like very important songs on the album, and I love that they are back-to-back as they capture an intense guttural pain as well as a reminder that things will get better. Was that something you always envisioned by putting them next to each other in the tracklisting?

JUDAH: I’d say that was sort of unintentional when creating the sequence of the tracks, but we’re very happy that they ended up together. It took us a second to realize that tracks 6,7 and 8 make so much sense story wise because it goes from intense pain and hardship to acceptance and hopefulness, which is so beautiful. It’s a great moment in the project for people to hear us individually.

MAYA: I feel like although maybe unintentional at first, I’m also very glad the tracklist ended up this way as our “solo” songs are sort of “holding hands” with each other in a sense. It feels special that these songs are sequenced together. 

TB: ‘People Always Change’ has one of the album’s most upbeat productions. How many versions did this song go through to get it to where it is now on the album? 

JUDAH: ‘People Always Change’ took a few tries to get the song where it is now. We originally had a slightly different melody and set of chords for the song. When we started working on it with Tony Berg, we did a lot of experimenting with different guitar sounds and chord progressions and basically jumbled it all together until it became what it is now. It’s crazy how much a song can change from conception to the final version we share with the world.

TB: ‘Wishes’ is one of the most special songs I have heard so far in 2024. Your harmonies along with the soft guitar are soothing and heartbreaking at the same time. And the lyricism… Let’s talk about that. One of my favourite lines is “Wish I was in my body ‘stead of hoverin’ above”. Can you explain where that lyric came from?

MAYA: Thank you very much! This line happens in my verse…I was basically just trying to say that I wish I was more present a lot of the time rather than constantly thinking about something else. My brain is constantly turning and thinking about the next thing, and I wanted to express how it can be really hard for me to be present & just enjoy a specific moment. 

TB: You have been performing this song for a while in your set. Did you make any changes to the song/studio version after you started performing it live and seeing how well it resonated with audiences? 

CINYA: When we first started playing ‘Wishes’ live we were just singing it as a trio with a single guitar. The song has always felt potent enough for that to suffice, but we wanted to amp it up a little more for the live version. Tony Berg and Will Maclellan are both musical geniuses and took such care of this song, without being “too precious”, (as Tony would say). The strings and ambience add a lot to the emotional depth of this song and carry the narrative along pretty effectively I think.

TB: If you could pick one song from the album for people to discover your music through, what song do you think represents you as a group and this album the best, and would want them to listen to first?

CINYA: ‘Wishes’ I think. And then ‘Salt and Sand’. 

TB: Earlier this year you opened for Gracie Abrams in Australia which seemed like a dreamy experience. What was one of your favourite moments from your time down under opening for her? 

JUDAH: One of my favorite moments, besides playing in front of insanely large crowds in Australia, is when we got to spend some time with Gracie during a day off and got to know each other more. She genuinely is one of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve ever met, and I’m so grateful for those memories and experiences with her and her team. I cant believe we’ve gone from fans to friends, but we love her endlessly and cannot wait to see her in this new era!

TB: What was the biggest misconception you had about Australia that you debunked while you were here? 

CINYA: I think I was expecting to see kangaroos hopping everywhere. Not true!

MAYA: I was also expecting to see massive spiders everywhere that are like crazy poisonous…didn’t see a tarantula once..

JUDAH: I was also expecting really big scary bugs everywhere, but I only saw one.

“All For Something” is out now!