Type: EP
Genre(s): Contemporary Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Indie Folk
From: Sweden, Gothenburg
Release: June 23, 2004
Producer(s): José González
This EP’s most notorious problem is the mix and the inconsistency. There are definitely nicely executed ideas here, but a lot of them are either held back by a hasty mix or diluted among other, not-so-expressive arrangements/performances.
•Low 7•
Highlights: Sensing Owls.
Lowlifes: Stay in the Shade, Instr.
Track-by-track review
Stay in the Shade is about growing emotionally dissociated due to having a negated or suppressed happiness. It features quite a calm and immersive performance by José González, although the composition feels fundamentally humdrum and not all that passionate.
High 6.
Down the Hillside: Lyrically, it seems to be a nice and wholesome song about staying true to oneself, against all odds and all things passed. The instrumental has quite a wholesome and uppity feel. However, the mix is slightly shoddy and unbalanced.
High 7.
Sensing Owls is a nice and simple cut, seemingly exploring monotony as well — as well as trying to battle it like in the line “come on, come out from wherever you are” lyric. “Sensing Owls” could represent giving a voice to this day-to-day dullness. Instrumentally, this is another calming and enveloping cut due to the performance by José González, as well as the charmingly complementary percussion.
Low 8.
Hand on Your Heart is a Kylie Minogue cover, and it has the best guitar arrangement on the EP; with a constantly syncopated note and enjoyably rhythmic feel. However, the song’s composition as a whole is not massively memorable or evocative. Lyrically, it’s a nice song about denial in a break-up, and about wanting true closure.
Mid 7.
Instr. is a very nice and calming composition with aesthetic brass and guitar arrangements. However, this track suffers from a horribly bassy mix; this, along with the needless field recording of birds chirping and people talking towards the end, ultimately doesn’t add much to the cut.
Low 6.