Track listing: Melody, Yesterday's Dress, 3rd Floor, On Either Side

I love debut records! In many cases they're an artist's most true, genuine expression of themselves. Sure, later albums gain the benefit of age, experience, wisdom, and in some cases financial backing. But that initial foray into the music scene is where you get an artist putting their most true, pure self onto tape, banking on their talent and creativity to make enough of a splash to turn heads, get bodies into shows, and kickoff what they hope to be a successful music career. On November 29, 2025, Red Oak, Texas native Ethan Pacheco drops his debut EP, On Either Side. 

Not even a full minute into the opening track "Melody" I'm wondering "How the hell does a 21-year-old kid write a song that could be seamlessly included on a Wilco record?" Spin Magazine made the Jeff Tweedy reference before I did, but damn if they didn't hit the nail on the head. 

The latest single, "Yesterday's Dress," is a heavy hitter. Gorgeous steel guitar, a deliberate plaintive backbeat, the song allows Pacheco to shine vocally. His delivery comes across like a 45-year-old divorcee singing his emotions into a bottle of cheap bourbon--with heartfelt love and the pain that often accompanies it. There's a wealth of experience in his vocal strains that I can't reconcile coming from an aspiring new singer. Taylor Tatsch recorded, mixed, and mastered the song at AudioStyles studio in the Hill Country, and you can just feel it--the essence of natural surroundings, sounds forged in fresh air, among the sound of rustling leaves of hundred-year-old live oaks.

"3rd Floor" offers reflection and hope. A 5-minute continual build of sound and emotion. The song forges Pacheco's Americana vibe with a more modern, almost Coldplay-ish Alternative edge. 

Closing out the EP is its title track, "On Either Side." It's a raw, stark sound with an ultra-organic acoustic guitar way upfront in the mix. My mind wanders to the first few minutes of Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," with respect to its acoustic purity. 

Pacheco's promotional materials explain On Either Side as "capturing Ethan in a season of reflection and forward motion, standing in the space between what has passed and what is still to come, and inviting listeners to linger in those moments with him." Bravo! This is not only a debut to be proud of, but a record that will hold its own for years to come. Find everything you need to keep up with Ethan Pacheco at linktr.ee/ethanpachecotx.

Photo/Artwork by Ethan Pacheco