I love an EP. A short collection of songs that gives me a very concise and good idea of what a band is all about. Its not a 12 track album where some songs fall flat and occasionally you get what I will just refer to as “filler tracks”. Artists truly have to put their very best foot forward on a 4 or 5 track collection and represent their best and on Stains of a Sunflower‘s latest release, they do just that.

The closing track “Black Heart” has a cavernous feel in spots. An echoing cave in which a grand piano has oddly been placed. It reverberates through the recesses of my headphones and brain. Inviting me to explore a bit deeper. That feeling then quickly builds to a resonant and rich harmonious sound as the rest of the band kicks in fully.

Singer Natalie Renée’s voice a thing of beauty and power. It flows and wanes with the piano lines and the delayed entrance of other instrumentation which provides a backing around the 2 minute and 30ish second mark, where Renée’s voice explodes and lets loose a path of fury, emotion and her vocal range absolutely soars. A balance between that gentle temperance of gorgeous tone with the pure and raw emotion in her vocal. It is intense and visceral in its impact. All I can think to explain the rest of the song is “holy shit”. It moves you. Its what music is supposed to do to you when you listen.

The words of “Black Heart” read like something from a book of poems and prose and they could just as easily fit next to Frost poetry in a coffee table book of excerpts from great works.

Don’t be scared, don’t look under the bed, hold fast and listen to the answers in the wind, 
Overflowing, 
Every growing. 
Burning deep, deep, making it hard to sleep.

I really hate when people use this term because it loses its value with the frequency people throw it out there, but seriously, this arrangement and the juxtaposition of the words, well it is epic.

Check out the self titled EP from Stains of a Sunflower today and be sure if you are in the Boston area to get out to their release celebration for this project at Atwoods on March 25th.

 (Oh, and if you are elsewhere on the East coast, they are on a short run ranging from Burlington, VT to DC starting on Saturday. Dates and spots in the poster below the track stream)