Apple Music today announces Cape Town indie-pop outfit long story short as the latest artist to be featured in its Up Next artist development program in South Africa.
Following the recent single “daisy,” long story short release their sophomore EP, notes for later, a genre-bending collection of songs that captures the tender and often contradictory experience of growing up, letting go and figuring out what comes next. Across the project, the band explores moments of uncertainty, nostalgia, heartbreak and self-discovery, creating a body of work that feels both intimate and expansive.
At its heart, notes for later is a collection of thoughts that might otherwise go unsaid—fragments of conversations, memories and emotions preserved for another time. The EP takes its title from the things we write down because we aren’t quite ready to deal with them yet, or because we know that someday we’ll look back and understand them differently.
The EP’s focus track, “hurricane,” embodies this emotional tension, pairing restless energy and genre-blurring production with lyrical vulnerability. Elsewhere, tracks including “daisy” and “shoes” showcase long story short’s knack for pairing memorable songwriting with unexpected sonic choices. Together, the songs form a cohesive yet deliberately unpredictable listening experience, reflecting the band’s continued ability to move fluidly between genres and moods.
“What an honour! It’s genuinely surreal to be Apple Music’s Up Next featured act for September! We are so, so grateful for the opportunity and for everyone who has supported us and this EP.” long story short tells Apple Music. “We’ve put so much of ourselves into these songs, and seeing them find their way into people’s lives is something we’ll never take for granted. We hope the EP continues connecting with people. We hope to see it soundtracking late nights, long drives, good times, bad times, and all the little moments in between.”
With notes for later, long story short continue to establish their own space within South Africa’s alternative music landscape, combining genre experimentation with emotionally direct songwriting. The result is a project that feels personal without being insular, and familiar without ever sounding predictable.
As the latest Up Next act to be spotlighted in South Africa, long story short will be featured across Apple Music’s Up Next playlist https://apple.co/3eITdJd. The curated Up Next playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre-agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.
The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WRLD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Fousheé and Tems.