AUK’s Monthly EP Round-Up – May 2025

Firstly, may I start by thanking my esteemed colleague Fred Arnold for picking up the baton and doing such a sterling job with last month’s EP Round-Up while I took a much-needed holiday. Now with my batteries well and truly recharged, it’s time to get stuck into May’s selection from the EPs goody bag and enjoy the eclectic mix on offer.

We’re starting off this month with something a little bit special with Derek Smith and the Cosmic Vultures and their new five-track EP entitled “Temporary Circus Act 1”. Boston, Massachusetts singer-songwriter Smith has proved to be highly prolific since his debut release back in 2017 with no less than five studio albums, either solo or with the Cosmic Vultures culminating in the critically acclaimed “Opus”, released in the November of last year. This new EP release sees Smith and his band operating in a more acoustic setting, deliberately avoiding direct comparison to their previous offering, feeling the need to create a new sound. In many ways, the music here reflects the seismic changes and tonal shift that have taken place worldwide since last November, advocating a level of caution and distrust as we become exposed to the surreal and at times unsettling spectacle of mass manipulation. Musically, the sound draws from a broad palette from the seventies pop rock of 10cc to the more modern indie rock of Bon Iver. Everything here is an absolute joy to lose yourself in. The kaleidoscopic mix entrances and hypnotises in equal measure, with the title track and ‘The Puppets Of Hypocrisy’ being particular favourites. An EP that comes highly recommended with the promise of more to come.

Next up, we have husband and wife duo Kyra & Tully with their latest five-track EP “Songs For The Universe”. All tracks here were written and recorded in Prince Edward County between 2021 and 2024 (except the track ‘On The Farm’, which dates back to 2018), and is the couple’s sixth studio release to date. Musically, the duo create a sound that feels both of its time and yet also timeless, being the latest link in a chain that travels back to some of those great male/female duos of yesteryear, such as Ian and Sylvia Tyson and Mary McCaslin and Jim Ringer. The arrangement here makes full use of the couple’s excellent harmonies, while the subtle application of pedal steel and fiddle helps add a seasoned flavour to the modern production. Lyrically, the EP also draws from past decades, exploring the beauty of nature and how it shapes and reflects the human experience, yet all done from a very 21st-century perspective. All five tracks here are excellent, in particular the opening track ‘Deer In The Headlights’ which has the added attraction of featuring Justin Rutledge on guest vocals, while the previously mentioned ‘On The Farm’ a co-write with Alex Augustine-Terry, is another highlight that subtly hints at Neil Young during his “Harvest” period.

The Mining Co. is the musical project of Ireland-born, London-based singer-songwriter Michael Gallagher, who follows up last year’s album release “Classic Monsters” with this four-track EP entitled ‘Treasure In Spain’. This latest offering sees Gallagher favouring a more acoustic/Americana sound akin to his earlier albums, such as “Mountain Fires” (2017) and “Frontier” (2019) and somewhat less like his sixth and most recent release with its excursion into a more electronica and indie vibe. Inspired by time spent and experiences over the years in Andalucia, the four tracks here see Gallagher creating a country-soul flavouring that imbues with all the subtle variations of mood, pace and tone that one has come to associate with his work over the last decade. Whether it be the upbeat, jauntiness of the title track, the bossa nova groove on ‘Scars’ or the evocative haunting ballad that is ‘We Are Not Alone’ the tracks here capture the essence of Gallagher’s songwriting and his inherent knack for a melody that at times invites comparison with Richard Hawley, all underpinned by his distinctive deep baritone vocals. Excellent stuff.

Simeon Hammond Dallas was born and raised in the rich musical and cultural melting pot of Camden Town, and in recent years has garnered high praise from such AUK luminaries as Tim Martin and Richard Parkinson. Having released her debut EP “Manic Pixie Dreams” in 2019, followed by her second offering “Make It Romantic” in 2022, Hammond Dallas has toured hard, opening for the likes of Allison Russell and Lady Nade as well as joining the ‘Color Me Country All Stars’ at last year’s Long Road Festival. She now releases her third EP “Seventeen”, which encompasses five tracks, loosely themed around having big dreams as a child only to have them manipulated into smaller ones under the patriarchy, that will surely see her career continue in an upward trajectory. The title track is seen as the thread that links all these songs together, though it comes in as the EP’s closing number. It is typical of Hammond Dallas’ acutely observed and personal narratives as if lifted straight from her diary, delivered here with a simple acoustic guitar and piano accompaniment. Elsewhere, opening track ‘Bad Liar’ kicks hard with lots of attitude and an infectious chorus that shows Hammond Dallas’ powerful vocals to full effect, while the commercial leanings of ‘Do I Die’ with its country west-coast vibe, deliver a sound that draws comparison to latter-day Fleetwood Mac. On the evidence of this EP, Hammond Dallas’ name and songs are going to be on everyone’s lips through the coming months.

Next, we have Adam Chaffins and his new five-track EP entitled “Trailer Trash”. Now based in Nashville but originally from Kentucky, singer-songwriter Chaffins has already accrued an impressive c.v. as a session and touring musician working with the likes of Billy Strings, War & Treaty and Lee Ann Womack, to name but a few, while he earned a SESAC, songwriting achievement award for his work with Grammy-winning group The Infamous Stringdusters. After a short period as a member of the renegade bluegrass band Town Mountain, Chaffins finally released his debut solo album “Some Things Won’t Last” at the start of 2020, only to find his promotional plans derailed by the COVID pandemic. With a Country sound that draws heavily on his Appalachian roots and a lyrical narrative that attempts to bring a fresh contemporary perspective to the well-mined traditional trademarks of the genre, Chaffins’ music leans closer to that of Chris Stapleton than, say Charley Crockett, but in the main manages to stay to the right side of the more commercially fashionable tone that infiltrates so much of charts these days. Of the five tracks here, the more upbeat numbers stand out, such as the opener ‘Living Till My Dying Day’ with its sagacious narrative on the shifting priorities of maturity, while ‘Drive Bar Moses’ tips its cap to the Steve Miller Band. Probably the strongest number amongst this quintet is ‘Little Bit At A Time’, which closes the EP, where Chaffins pays testament to perseverance against a hypnotic groove that teases with its false coda.

Singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, J.C. Wright has already acquired an expansive decades-long career in music, having been a key member of major label bands such as Das Psycho Rangers, Big Life Casino and The Genies. After a successful period in New York, Wright returned to London and opened The Splash Club at The Water Rats, which played a major part in the Britpop explosion, hosting Oasis’ first-ever London show, and more recently has formed his own record label, Clear Light Records, in conjunction with Declared Goods. With a collection of songs amassed over the last twenty years, Wright has finally decided to share his music with the world, exposing a deeply emotive songwriter, whose dark and confessional narratives are carried along by a conduit of eclectic musical styles strong on melodic intensity. Opening number ‘Bird Of Prey’, begins with a finger-picked acoustic guitar supporting a gentle vocal delivery before building in crescendo to almost anthemic proportions, stuffed full of passion and drama. The piano-led, seventies psych-inspired, end-of-the-world love song that is ‘When There’s Nowhere Left to Turn’ is similarly dramatic, while the more sedately atmospheric ‘Saudade Calling’, aches with yearning and longing. The essence of the EP can be found in the final song ‘The Fallen Few’ as it encapsulates the sweeping journey traversed by this quintet of captivating vignettes, with this mournful modern folk ballad acting as a seance with the spirit world, written after the death of two close friends. This EP is a compelling listen that is highly recommended and will appeal particularly to fans of Fleet Foxes, Jonathan Wilson, and Foy Vance.

Raised in Lexington, Kentucky, but now based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, indie folk singer-songwriter Catherine Campbell releases her third EP “Outline”, which follows on from her debut offering “Young One” in 2019 and her sophomore release “Leave In Trace” in 2022. This new six-track EP includes two songs that were released as singles early last year, including the opening number ‘Orion’, a poignant, melancholic tale of broken relationships, and ‘Too Late’, which ponders the regrets of missed opportunities with considering the possibilities that still lie ahead. Campbell’s delivery is lyrically soft and full of otherworldly romanticism, her songs inhabiting a space between the traditional folk singer-songwriter and the more modern indie rock sound, all encased in broad but subtle production. Title track ‘Outline’ impresses with its gently strummed acoustic guitar intro, which plays a chord progression that flirts with a faint similarity to The Eagles’ seventies hit ‘Best Of My Love’ before Campbell’s vocals lead the song in a more dreamy atmospheric direction. There is one cover on the EP with Campbell supplying an interesting modern twist to The Beach Boys track ‘In My Room’, while the edgier ‘Long Hair’ with its heavier percussive beat is another particular highlight.

As is usual, I have saved the EP that has impressed me the most until last, and in truth, it has been, as is often the case, a very close-run thing. However, I do believe this month’s choice is right out of the top drawer. Merseyside-based singer-songwriter Oisin Hassan releases his debut four-track EP entitled “Be Free, Like A Bird”, with none other than award-winning singer-songwriter Robert Vincent overseeing the production duties. There is a sense of the early seventies West Coast singer-songwriter running through the veins of each of these tracks with a lyrical narrative that recalls the counterculture folk wisdom so prevalent on such classic albums of the period from Gene Clark and Stephen Stills. The guitar playing also draws favourable comparisons. Whether it be acoustic, 12-string or slide guitar, the combination of rapid arpeggios, as on the opening number ‘Colours Of The Rain’, or the open tuning on ‘Let It Rain On Me’, the standard is never less than exceptional. Hassan is no slouch on vocals either, with a rich, soulful and emotive delivery which, when augmented by Vincent on harmonies, as on the title track, is simply sublime. On the evidence of the four wonderful songs that make up “Be Free, Like A Bird”, the sky is most definitely the limit for Oisin Hassan, and I for one can’t wait to hear what he does next.