Beautifully well created 4 track E.P for fans of Bright Eyes, Brian Fallon and Okkervil River.
H.B. Nielsen is referred to as a “Swedish, tattooing, singer-songwriter”, who moved from Sweden to New York as a teenager as a hockey player, but then ended up picking up a guitar instead of a hockey stick before picking up the tattoo machine. ‘It’s Today Again’ is a captivating short EP that voices the feelings around what to do after you’ve finally got what you wanted. Nielsen draws upon his experiences of travelling around the world throughout his songwriting.
‘Heavy Bloom’ starts the EP in an up-tempo, bouncy fashion, with catchy harmonica lines and well-arranged vocal phrases that make room for tasteful electric guitar licks. The EP takes a turn for a more melody focussed approached from here on out with the melancholic yet uplifting ‘Tomorrow Off Your Back’. “I’ll be the one to keep tomorrow off your back” Nielsen sings lazily with a beautiful female harmony accompanying him, looking out into the future with the fear of what will come next. A very relatable topic in today’s world, where political unrest seems to continue to rule the world, where we’re all wondering what on earth could come next.
‘Can’t Seem to Recall’ brings back some groove to proceedings however continuing with the melodic lead vocal and harmonies before closing out the EP with the title track ‘It’s Today Again’. ‘It’s Today Again’ features a wonderfully well-thought arrangement, with nigh and day present throughout the whole track. With Nielsen’s voice and acoustic guitar the mainstays throughout also accompanied with a perfectly suitable horn section, that adds a whole new colour and perspective that is welcomed with open arms!
All in all a really great 4 track EP. Definitely for fans of Bright Eyes, Brian Fallon and Okkervil River. Nielsen has really paid attention to detail at all stages in the production of this EP. At no point do you get bored and feel like things get samey (which would be hard in a 4 track EP, but trust me I’ve known it happen) and you’re constantly pulled further into his songwriting and storytelling.
