With In My Head, a compact two-song EP that feels far larger than its runtime, CS Hellmann steps boldly into a new era of identity. The Nashville-based artist has long shown flashes of ambition, but here he hones a vision that’s both more daring and more intimate. What he’s delivered is a tight yet expansive work that pulls you into its atmosphere from the first second and doesn’t let go until the final note wraps up.

Across these two tracks, Hellmann manages to bridge his influences from Graveyard Club’s nocturnal shimmer, Nine Inch Nails’ shadowy industrial feel, and even the cool of Arctic Monkeys. But rather than feeling like a rip off, In My Head presents these inspirations as far reaching sound behind a style that is so undeniably his own! It’s dark, eerie, emotionally charged, and threaded with a cinematic tension that’ll only reward you if you listen closely.

“Love I Left Behind,” switches things up as the #2 track with a slow-building, hypnotic pulse. Haunting synth lines swirl around layered percussion that feels at organic and mechanical. Hellmann leans directly into personal struggle and transformation here, his vocals shaded with vulnerability but carried by a grittiness, like someone pulling themselves through a difficult situation. There’s a rawness to it, but also a warmth, a sense that growth is both painful and luminous. The production is meticulous, textured with reverb and deliberate restraint. It sits in that sweet spot between dreamlike and industrial, where you can almost feel the quiet electricity.

As for the title track “In My Head”, this is where Hellmann truly dazzles. Recorded at Polychrome Ranch, producer Jared Corder’s secluded cabin studio tucked into the Tennessee foothills. the song channels that environment’s isolation. It’s restless, all flickering synths and introspective lyrics that wrestle with ambition, doubt, and the echo chamber of one’s own mind. Hellmann never ever shys away form the experimental with that layered percussion that ripples, subtle AI-generated vocals, and a melodic structure that goes back and forth between anxiety and release.

Sonically the song diverges sharply from its companion, but that contrast is the EP’s greatest strength. The two tracks speak to different emotional corners of Hellmann’s world yet both are united by his unmistakable voice and lush, atmospheric production. Even though they certainly sound different, there’s no denying even in the slightest that they belong on the same record. You get a little bit of everything at the end of it all.

In My Head is brief, but nothing about it feels small. If this EP is any indication of what’s coming next, we’re fully on the bandwagon for much more. As we patiently wait, go ahead and click those links below to listen in, follow along, and of course to stay tuned for all the latest news.

Listen to “In My Head” & “Love I Left Behind”

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CS Hellman puts on a masterclass in production on EP, "In My Head"