It may be Valentine’s Day but for those that are going through heartbreak, the day can be a real suckerpunch. Thankfully, breakup songs are better than love songs and it’s something that E^ST has proved time and time again. The young Aussie pop act has traversed a range of topics through her short yet fruitful career but heartache is one that pops up more than any other. 

To celebrate V-Day, we’ve decided to take a trip through E^ST’s discography and pick out the best break-up anthems, from euphoric moments of liberation to angsty middle-fingers. 

Fresh Out Of Love

Play if: you feel exhausted.

We see you E^ST, sneaking out a breakup song on Valentine’s Day. Fresh Out Of Love is the third track to be taken from her forthcoming debut album and it’s one of the most luscious songs she’s ever made. It’s a sweeping, cinematic cut that details the aftermath of a relationship that hasn’t quite gone right. 

“This song is about feeling really empty after realising you’ve given all your love to someone who doesn’t love you back,” says E^ST about the song. Interestingly, the sonic backdrop of the song feels like rejuvenation as if things are beginning again but lyrically she’s depleted. “I’m fresh out of love, I’m all used up, don’t have enough for what they take from me,” she sings in the chorus, giving a particularly emotional performance at the end when she’s joined by an acoustic guitar. 

FLIGHT PATH

Play if: You need a good cry.

Another emotional moment from E^ST forthcoming album, FLIGHT PATH is a nostalgic look back at a relationship past. “We spent our nights by the seashore now I don’t know where you sleep anymore,” she sings over joyous keys. 

Much like the best break-up anthems, there’s a certain euphoria to FLIGHT PATH as the bass pounds and the keys arrive like a ‘90s dance track. Robyn taught us our to dance on our own and E^ST is playing by that textbook, simultaneously uplifting and reflecting with sadness. It’s a difficult juxtaposition to get right but it feels so good when you do. 

I Don’t Lack Imagination

Play if: you want to send the middle-finger.

Now we’ve got the sad ones out of the way, here’s a sassy one. E^ST knows how to deliver a cutting one-liner when she wants to and I Don’t Lack Imagination delivers plenty of them. The song was the first single lifted from her third EP Life Isn’t Always Roses and it’s a woozy, regretful trip through a former relationship.

“Guess I'm being dramatic/But I'm not that into you,” she sings as she laments about how the relationship looked better in her head than it was in reality. Turns out the partner just really wasn’t that “cool”, according to E^ST. 

Blowjob

Play if: you know you’re better than that.

If anyone knows how to give it to someone straight, it’s E^ST. She’s one of the most lyrically raw writers in the Australian pop scene and Blowjob is an incredibly vivid display of that. “Down on my knees, really just need/Just need your open arms/And you just need a blowjob,” she sings on Blowjob as she walks away from a toxic relationship.

It’s about knowing when you’re not getting what you need and taking yourself out of that moment. There’s something empowering about it but it’s also the inevitably crushing end of a relationship and E^ST captures that emotion. 

Life Goes On

Play if: you need to dance and let go.

Life Goes On is not a nasty break-up song. E^ST most-streamed song yet is a simultaneously euphoric and melancholic moment as she knows she needs to move on. 

“It’s admitting to missing someone but accepting that you have to let go of people sometimes,” E^ST said about the song. The song captures that sense of liberation in its gigantic chorus, delivering the same sort of energy as A-grade pop songs like Robyn’s Dancing On My Own.

If you’re after a song that’s cathartic without being bitter then Life Goes On is the one to hit play on. 

Screentime

Play if: you’re done with a drama queen.

Screentime was the closer to E^ST 2016 EP Get Money! and it’s a scathing breakup anthem that basically puts someone on blast for being a drama queen. She suggests that this person heads off to Hollywood for the attention that they require singing, “I ain’t got no screentime for you baby.”

“Go win an Oscar baby, you know how to do it,” is one of the most excellently sassy lines in pop music.