Pacific Northwest artist TEHYA releases catch//release via Neon Gold Records / Futures, opening the next phase of her 5-track EP a changeable feast, arriving August 14.EP.
The single moves through toxic attachment, emotional dependence, and the slow panic of knowing something is damaging you while still not being ready to leave it. Built around soft genre-fluid production and direct writing, catch//release keeps the pressure close rather than turning the collapse into spectacle.
TEHYA describes the track as:
…the turbulence of realizing someone you love is holding you back, while still being so attached and not understanding how to let go despite the toxicity. analogizes the relationship to that of a fish on a hook (both partners interchangeably being the fish) “look straight in its eyes.
highlighting the acknowledgment of life behind them, knowing you’re hurting this living thing, becoming attached to that humanization.
That image gives the song its emotional core: both people caught, both people capable of harm, both still looking straight at what they are doing.
oooo you hooked me good / am I doing this right? / looked straight in its eyes / now I’m too attached too attached to / catch and release
TEHYA’s self-built process matters here. Raised in the Pacific Northwest, shaped by her Cherokee, Filipino, and Scotch-Irish roots, she left home at 16, found community in Seattle’s Capitol Hill underground rap scene, and learned Pro Tools and FL Studio by sitting in on sessions until the tools became her own.
She plays guitar, keys, and drums, and writes 100% of her toplines and lyrics. That control gives catch//release its edge: emotionally exposed, technically self-directed, and sharp enough to avoid melodrama.
Already a Neon Gold Records artist, with earlier releases including the patriot, spoons for sweets, and trap door, TEHYA continues to shape a world that feels personal, fluid, and fully in her hands. She also appears in Love Spells’ video for Keep It To Yourself, adding another visual thread to this new era.
With catch//release, TEHYA does not clean up the mess of attachment. She studies it while it is still moving.