Stereogum's 25 Great EPs From 2016
In an age when major-label artists are putting out bloated albums in an effort to rack up the most streaming equivalent units, it can sometimes feel like brevity is becoming a lost art form. But that’s really not the case outside of the pop sphere, as the releases below will attest. Most of these EPs […]
Published: December 02, 2016 17:00
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After the vibrant frenzy of *Syro*, Richard D. James slows down. The *Cheetah* EP is a brief but luminescent set of velvety acid and warped sound experiments—made with the notoriously difficult, early ‘90s synth of the same name. As heard on highlights “CHEETAHT7b” and “2X202-ST5,” James makes the most of the challenge.
The sequel to Jepsen’s 2015 album is a blast of euphoric pop perfection.
“Yeah bitch I’m here to take that crown,” yelps Charli XCX atop the pulverising, MIA-indebted neo-rave of “Trophy”. And if you’re looking for a sign of the former Charlotte Aitchison’s alt-pop reign, you could do a lot worse than this experiment in tyre-screeching electro provocation. Wholly produced by SOPHIE—of disruptive London label PC Music—and predominantly recorded in just a few days, *Vroom Vroom EP* fizzes with in-your-face inventiveness and unstoppable youthful brio.
Where is this generation's “In Your Eyes”? Our “Come Talk To Me”? You know, that song to blast as we passionately, earnestly raise the boombox high over our heads outside our beloved’s window at twilight. It’s been a while since we had one of those songs — something expansive and elegant; big-pop that feels personal and tender. Let us humbly offer the music of Sydney’s Gordi — 22-year-old Sophie Payten. Her debut EP, 'Clever Disguise', gets at it both ways — massive and personal music that doesn’t concede an inch of artistic vision. Raised in the small, farming community of Canowindra in New South Wales, amongst a minuscule population of 2381, Payten learned to play piano and guitar in her house — with Billy Joel on near-constant rotation. She left the rural life in her late-teens to pursue a medical education in Sydney. The dichotomy of those environments — the pastoral and the modern — is surely a guiding influence in Gordi’s music. Earthy, wistful folk songs are cloaked in delicate-but-bold electronic production. And what an effortlessly flooring voice to carry it all, at once fractured and brimming with richness. These are songs you could hear bouncing through the alleyways of the city as much as you could hear them rolling across the fields. First single, “Can We Work It Out” has the big, worldly drums of those aforementioned Peter Gabriel classics and a towering, multi-layered vocal chorus that will instantaneously sear itself into your musical memory. The soft gallop and airy melody of opener “Nothing’s As It Seems” feels like bittersweet sunset of a four-day weekend on the water. Moments in the EP may recall the early albums of Beth Orton, but more storming and redesigned for the stadiums, festivals and amphitheaters of the 21st Century. 'Clever Disguise' was created with producer Ben McCarthy (Megan Washington), with additional production from Alex Somers (Sigur Ros) and Francois Tetaz (Gotye). And if it’s merely an aperitif for what Gordi has coming up, we’re in for a magnificent show.
recorded by mac, isaac and fred mixed by Garrett Linck mastered by Sean Fahey
