The new EP from Mt. Misery is something special. The band, from Hartlepool in northeast England, makes the kind of carefully-considered indie-pop that fans of, say, Elbow and The Coral should love. Lonely Pines, out now, is one of the highlights in this busy spring-time release season.
"Lonely Pines" bears a faint resemblance to the lighter tunes from Travis, which is to say that it's buoyantly catchy and thoughtful, while the peppier "Tell Me How You Feel" and "Heart Beat" made me think of older numbers from The Coral and Clearlake, and other bands from that wave of acts from the turn of the century that saw Coldplay rise to the top of the class. Lonely Pines closes on the spry "Ferris Wheel", a number that made me think of The Bluebells and even Aztec Camera for a moment. The players here keep things economical and simple, and the resulting songs have that kind of timelessly direct appeal that songs from Elbow, for example, have. There's nothing showy here but each of these four cuts is expertly constructed, with a hook that's memorable and a melody that's altogether charming.
Lonely Pines is out now via the link below.
More details on Mt. Misery via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Uncredited pic from the band's Facebook page]