Can’t find the time to enjoy a thorough album run-through? Here are three EP records that waiver around 20 minutes and can accompany your next coffee break:
Arlie — Wait
Arlie’s youthful track compilation defies any expectation of what an EP would be. The indie-alternative rock band, unable to stick to a particular sonic direction in each track, blends ethereal synth sounds with groovy electric guitar and hazy vocal stacking to create a psychedelic and out-of-this-world “ear-candy” EP. The playful and bubbly draw that “big fat mouth” and “tossing and turning” produce sandwich four multidimensional and unlikely songs that make you want to stay in the band’s trance. “Barcelona boots” encompasses a pouty, spacey sonic composition that employs sharp chorus vocals. “Too long” touches the depth of human longing in an “almost” ballad-piano complimented by a melancholy drum inclusion. “Water Damage” is a purely confident rock track that invites the listener into a hazy space environment. “Didya think” and “tossing and turning” are two opposing sonic forces competing to be the most intoxicating track of the EP. Both line vocal and electric guitar reverb next to a disorienting and psychedelic closer, leaving the listener to snap out of Arlie’s rhythmic grasp.
Highlights: “didya think,” “tossing and turning”
Portair — The Ice that Breaks
Portair, an Australian-native singer/songwriter, recently released his second indie/alternative EP. The brief tracklist proves to be an immersive invitation to feel the chill of a new life season.
“It is more focused on a progression of growth where you encounter hardship and cold winters,” Portair said. “This represents something that breaks and shifts how you grow in what direction. It’s a metaphor for human existence, and the songs reflect that in subtle ways.”
Haunting yet soothing vocals are accompanied by an earthly, acoustic environment, while ideological desperation is complimented by curious wonder. In “Point of View” and “Alaska,” nature is a prominent theme that tackles humanity’s indifferent awareness of a looming cold season. “Lost in the Dark” is a more upbeat track that seamlessly blends various guitar sounds and accompanies vocal stacking with a heavy drum set. “Out of Focus” is a three-minute ethereal dream that echoes the complexity of relational bliss. “All the Things We’ve Never Done” is Portair’s experimentation with a light and eager electric guitar foundation and bleeds with atmospheric and tensional nostalgia. The EP, in its entirety, is – poetry that leaves the listeners with melodious color in their bones.
Highlights: “Alaska,” “All the Things We’ve Never Done”
Jansen, The Wldlfe — 41.93734, -88.10512 (Demo)
Typically part of the band, The Wldlfe, Jansen tries seeking his narrative approach for the first time with his EP, 41.93734, -88.10512 (Demo). Although the record only consists of four tracks, the band’s brief set fixates the listener into a melancholy, dissociative pseudo-consciousness. Stripped-down, vulnerable acoustic sets of spacy, reverbed guitar and heart-wrenching piano inclusions effectively pair with soothing vocals that embody a profoundly desperate and distressed mindset. Jansen’s EP sounds like the sky’s darkest gray color on a cloudy day, in the best way imaginable. “Were you Lying?” is an extended lost-relationship narrative in which Jansen utilizes concrete scenes where listeners can visually depict the unattainability of the relationship so longed for. It poses a rhetorical question to the empty air that will never be answered. “If it’s Too Much to Carry” and “12:37” depict a more mature and self-aware perspective as opposed to the other tracks. “When Somebody’s Holding Me” is a eulogy of an individual’s vulnerability and debates whether an individual can ever accept that they are deserving of emotional intimacy. If any music guru is looking to tap into depressive emotions or mourn a lost romance, Jansen, with his EP, will lead the way.
Highlights: “Were You Lying,” “When Somebody’s Holding Me”
