Reviewed: 03/07/2020

Dirty Projectors continue their 5 EP project with a simple selection of songs closer to their roots, which don’t exactly command the same respect of their earlier work.

Coming in at just 10 minutes, this EP is over in a flash – and whilst I enjoyed my time within the sonic world created, I wasn’t chomping at the bit to replay it over and over.

With the advantage of shorter, simpler songs, this entire tracklist has a united feeling to it, but this is also the detriment to the overall sound of the project, as ideas seemingly become repeated.

The opening tracks Inner World and Lose Your Love are the biggest victims of the homogenous styles, with a samey idiophone-sounding instrument linking the songs together.

However they are by no means bad songs, just very similar. There a subtle differences – Inner World carries over aspects of folk from the first EP of the year, but overall these songs could have been merged into one – and with the passing of time, do become one when I try and recall aspects of them.

Self Design does switch things up again, and is for me the standout moment of the project. However, the lyrics are safe and forgettable, a hallmark of the project. The vocals are lovely and fit in well, but I can’t recall any interesting words or phrases.

On the closing track Empty Vessel the sound is stripped back even further, with slight elements of glitch-pop in the manipulation of the multiple vocal layers. However, it does come across as a half-hearted attempt. However, just like the similarities between the first two tracks, there are elements here that link it closely to Self Design.

It seems to be that there are two pairs of connected songs that don’t link up as a quartet.

Overall there are ideas here that I wish were explored further, even within the boundaries of an EP of 20 minutes rather than 10. With the change in direction from their first EP of the year, I don’t think we’ll get a further glimpse into this sound of any other EP.

Track Listing

• Inner World (B)
• Lose Your Love (B)
• Self Design (B+)
• Empty Vessel (B-)