AUK’s Monthly EP Round-Up – June 2025

Well, dear readers, here we are already halfway through the year, and the festival season is well underway. Here’s hoping the weather continues to play ball, but if the heavens have opened up above you, why not stay indoors and check out the delights we have on offer in June’s edition of the ‘Monthly EPs Round-Up’.

We’re kicking proceedings off this month with the debut EP release from Caspar Milquetoast entitled “From The Cheap Seats”. Hailing from Denver, the band is led by Gillian Pasley, a singer-songwriter originally from New England who had trained in poetry and storytelling. On arriving in Denver, she joined up with Leah Bertrand on synth, Jordan Smith on bass, and Andrew Quinlan on drums to form what they describe as an alternative country band. The five tracks on offer here deliver a mix of traditional short stories supported by a weave of genres that draws from 80s new wave synthesiser music, with plenty of country-twang pedal steel and 90s distorted guitars. The result is an atmospheric and hypnotic selection that has enough of an indie edge to maintain the focus, at times drawing comparison to the Silver Jews, whilst Pasley’s lyrics and vocal delivery generate enough attitude and streetwise angst to inhabit a similar soundscape to that of Hurrah For The Riff Raff. Particular highlights from what is an auspicious debut are the intriguingly titled ‘Karen Dalton Says’ and ‘Rodeo Clown’.

New York singer-songwriter Dave Goddess will be a familiar name to regular AUK readers, having released his first EP “Something New” with his Group back in 2010. Recent years have seen the release of two highly acclaimed albums, starting with “Once In A Blue Moon”(2020), followed by “Back In Business”(2022). This month sees the release of a new six-track EP entitled “Kitty Hawk”, though in truth, only one of the tracks has not been previously available. Goddess’ sound has regularly drawn comparisons to fellow New York songsmith Willie Nile, while broader similarities include Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, supplying his blend of anthemic roots rockers and intimate soul-searchers with blue-collar poetry. Opening number ‘Tin Foil Hat’ with its jangly Byrds-like drive and catchy refrain finds Goddess at his most commercial, slightly reminiscent of John Mellencamp during his ‘Cougar’ days, while the intensity within both the lyrics and vocal delivery mark ‘Wild And Willing’ as another highlight on an EP stuffed full of gems. Personal favourite might just be the new song ‘Lucky Guy’, but to be honest, “Kitty Hawk” has no weak link, and should see Goddess’ career continue its upward trajectory.

Next up, we have “Heads Or Tales”, the new five-track EP from award-winning half-Irish, half-English singer-songwriter Bird, aka Janie Price. Based these days between Tuscany, Italy, and London, Bird has to date released five albums culminating in last year’s award-winning film soundtrack album entitled “Wider Than The Sky”. This new five-track EP finds Bird collaborating on songwriting duties with such luminaries as renowned guitarist Ally McErlaine, formerly with Texas but more recently one-third of Red Sky July, along with ex-Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes and Andy Dunlop, lead guitarist for Travis. With all these guitar virtuosos, you’d be forgiven for believing these songs would be awash with fretboard extravaganza, but there is far more depth and structure to these delightful vignettes. From the opening track ‘Sunny Days’ with its enchanting lament of lost love musically skirting between folk and tango, ‘Roy’ and its captivating slice of string laden Americana, and ‘Daddy’ exploring the emotional dynamics that occur within families, Bird’s storytelling captures the full gamut of duality, vulnerability and resilience. The final two tracks offer up alternative versions of the old Smiths’ classic ‘How Soon Is Now’, showing the diversity of Birds’ influences, however it is her own material that stands out here, in particular the aforementioned ‘Roy’, which is without doubt one of the best songs of 2025 so far.

Evan Bartels hails originally from the small Nebraskan town. Tobias, a place he claims “offers immeasurable freedom, while threatening a life of unanswered wanting”. The six tracks that make up his new EP entitled “To Make You Cry” go a long way to capturing the stark and intense beauty of the landscape as his narratives explore the sacrifices and spirituality of a working musician. Now residing just outside of Nashville, these songs, recorded in his handmade cabin using little more than guitar and vocals, showcase Bartel’s profound knack for storytelling, creating epic, cinematic landscapes whilst turning the spotlight on those people who most often go unseen. From the first song ‘Death Of A Good Man’, through to closing number ‘Waves’ this EP is an absolute delight, and though it could be argued that Bartels poetry mines a familiar seam, rarely has it been delivered with such emotive intensity, with his baritone vocals resonating to the very core. It would be impossible to choose a favourite, though ‘Lula’ lingers long in the memory, from an EP that follows Bartel’s latest album “Lonesome”, which our very own Helen Jones wrote favourably of in her “Review of 2021”. One feels that Bartel’s recent run at the ‘C2C Festival‘ in London and Berlin would have positioned him as something of a musical outlier alongside the more commercial fare on offer. Still, his three dates in the UK with Charles Wesley Godwin last month must have been a special evening for those in attendance. For those of us not fortunate enough to catch him there, Bartels will be bringing his rustic, unbridled songs back to the UK for ‘The Long Road Festival’ in August, and on the back of “To Make You Cry”, he will surely be one of the weekend’s highlights.

“Footsteps” is a delightful four-track debut EP from the Yorkshire-based duo silkandcustard that comprises Chris Pemberton on guitar and vocals, and Siân Powell on lead vocals. The duo has been performing together for approximately nine years, and the four tracks on offer here span their musical career, some older, some newer. Musically, they draw from a relatively broad palette with shades of folk, blues, jazz, and country all permeating through a sound that at different times bears similarities to The Civil Wars, Richard and Linda Thompson, and, in particular, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The opening song, ‘Quicksand’, immediately sets the tone, a lyrically dark and atmospheric tale of lost love, a theme that continues within the slightly more folk-influenced ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk’. The duo’s harmonies throughout are quite exquisite, while the sparse arrangement allows the songs to breathe, enabling the melancholic bittersweetness of the narratives to sit front and centre, hypnotically drawing the listener in close. There is much to enjoy on this very promising debut EP from silkandcustard, which hopefully will act as a stepping stone for their career and future recordings.

Hot on the heels of his self-titled third album earlier this year comes this five-track EP entitled “Requiem Mass’ from Jesse Daniel Edwards. Unlike the stripped-back production of his last recording, this EP is a completely different beast, with Edwards choosing to relinquish his usual hands-on approach, bringing outside musicians on board for the first time in his discography. The resulting songs are deliberately confrontational and challenging, insistent on total attention over any passive pretence, whilst being thematically dense, urgent and unflinching in equal measures. Musically, Edwards has gravitated away from the Americana roots of his early releases, creating a more theatrically sonic experience, his energetic piano playing and operatic vocals now competing alongside electric guitars and heavy percussion within a top-heavy production. His trademark dark humour and sharp lyrical bite is still ever-present, tearing into bureaucratic manipulation on the opening song ‘Fine Print’, whilst challenging both addiction as on ‘Biting Off The Hand That Feeds’ and religion ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Good (I wanna Be God)’. Occasionally drawing comparison to Father John Misty, “Requiem Mass” is an intentionally incendiary listen that is, in truth, difficult to categorise, and with the promise of a further EP to follow next month, it will be interesting to monitor Edwards’ new musical trajectory.

Next, we head ‘down-under’, with Wild Dog Mountains and their debut four-track EP entitled “Greetings From Wild Dog Mountains’. The five-piece band, led by Kyle Phillipson on vocals and guitar, have been plying their wares in and around the Melbourne music scene over the past couple of years, building a growing reputation for their rollicking and energetic live shows. This debut EP includes two tracks previously released as singles, with both ‘Maybe So’ and ‘The Light Is Getting Darker’ delivering some exquisite Alt-Country that draws favourable comparison to that of Wilco, The Jayhawks and even the Drive By Truckers, bands that were instrumental in defining the new sound of Americana music. Of the two new songs, the opening number ‘Riverina’ is another strong contender with a driving beat supporting some delightful pedal steel and banjo playing, all proving the perfect conduit for Phillipson’s storyville narrative. The EP closes with the acoustic ‘Almost Invasion Day’, sweetly laced with a string quartet, interspersed with field recordings of the Australian Bush, that proves the band’s versatility and musicality. Over the years, Australia has proved to be a fertile source for top-quality Americana music and with their new debut EP, Wild Dog Mountains can add their names to the best of them. This EP comes highly recommended.

Once again, I have chosen to leave the EP that has impressed me the most this month until last, and just like previous months, it has been a tight call deciding. However, the award this month goes to JD Hinton and his new five-track EP entitled “So Close, So Far”. Regular readers of this article may recall me waxing lyrical about Hinton’s previous release, “Traveler”, which came out at the start of the Year, drawing favourable comparisons to such songwriting icons as fellow Texan Dave Alvin, as well as Tom Russell. These five new songs don’t just cement that view, they lift it to another level, proving that Hinton, for all his multifaceted career, either as a late-night Disc Jockey, or numerous acting roles on television and film, is first and foremost a songwriter of the highest order. Any doubts about that are completely blown away by the opening number, ‘Rain Rain Rain’, a co-write with Richard Alan Solem that hits you like a controlled explosion. You can sense the power from the opening riff of the guitar and piano, and feel the intensity in the vocal delivery, as together they pull you into Hinton’s world. That level is maintained with the driving ‘Don’t Dig My Grave Yet’, full of jagged chords and lashings of reverb before the pace is slowed by a seductive piano intro that leads into “Let’s Do Now (I’m Here, You’re Here)” where the vocals are shared between Hinton and the delightful Kathrin Shorr. Hinton’s narratives are like mini-movies, scripted with all the emotional clarity and vision of a screenwriter, but delivered with the world-weary, sagacious lucidity of a wandering minstrel. All this is captured perfectly on ‘Where Do I Sign’, a parody of the film star’s lifestyle, stuffed full of fabulous one-liners such as “I’m so ready I’m almost late”. The closing track, ‘I Have To Dream’, was sung by Celine Dion in Mark Medoff’s period film ‘Children On Their Birthdays’, delivered here as a gentle ballad of hope. Hinton’s vocals imbue the narrative with far greater gravitas. With “So Close, So Far”, Hinton has proved, if proof were needed, that when it comes to singer-songwriters, he is the real deal.