Dublin singer-songwriter Lex Bucha has released Dark Mode, a five-track EP that pairs electronic production with writing about anger, vulnerability and recovery.
It follows his 2025 debut, Painless Mode, which explored anxiety and family conflict.
Faithless (Sacrifice) leads the EP, produced by Liam Geddes. Across Paranoid, Pill, Watch Me Fall and Sweet Pain, Bucha approaches unease, resignation and reflection from different angles.
The shift is emotional as well as sonic: Dark Mode gives feelings he previously held back a more direct place in the songs.
Bucha says:
Writing this EP helped me take a lot of the sadness I was feeling and start the turning point of healing. That meant going a bit darker and embracing the anger and resentment I was feeling, but it also marked a turning point in my journey to begin recovery.
The title suggests retreat, but Bucha describes the record as a step towards coming through it.