Colding Fields/Until Sun/String Theory EP

text

This EP by L'Altra is expressing the same sad beauty that can be found in the music of, for example, Low and Shannon Wright. I don't know much about L'Altra; the most concrete facts I can give is that this EP is released by Chicago's Aesthetics label, it's their first release and that there will be an album early next year. All three tracks are a mixture of acoustic guitar, vocals, bass and drums, and seem to express terrible heartbreak with the best possible taste. You'll be left disarmed by the distant cries on the end of Colding Fields and the horticultural sadness on Until Sun ("you left me for trees/you'd left me for better leaves/I know I can grow them/you know I can plant them"). The poignant String Theory builds from a simple repeated piano note until fully formed as a song, and then it takes you on a ride wherever it wants you to go, before dumping you back on the sidewalk. It's a brief but affecting experience.