This new Halifax quintet recorded with high-end producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda way back in early 2020, and then had to sit on everything for over a year while Covid took its toll. Finally they've been able to launch this six-track E.P. (an album will follow in 2022). It's a surprising set of songs, the group exploring how many new places they can go in the alt-country genre.
The tunes all have story-telling at their core, little dramas that take off in the imagination. You're never quite sure where each one will lead. "Tell Me I'm Good" begins as a modern country ballad before the beat picks up and a full-on fiddle hoedown breaks out. "Body Of Water" goes from a soft strummer to a dreamscape string middle to a deep and heavy finale, three distinct sections that somehow come together seamlessly. The singer in "Vampire" may have an exaggerated warble for this Western horse opera, but it's all about a modern bloodsucker in a relationship.
At times, the songs start out like they could make the playlist of your local modern country radio station, but that doesn't last very long before things get twisted. Lead single "Pale Ember" is far too dark and heavy for that brand of country fan. This is for the roots-rock crowd, or for those who took a left turn at Albuquerque.
Nice Cover
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