Embers & Ashes

(independent)

 

The term “folk rock” has been around for a long time, but there are performers such as Richard Thompson, Ellis Paul, Stephen Stills, and Ray Lamontagne whose cadences, sensibilities, and musical souls are such that they’re rocking even when they’re quiet and wielding an acoustic guitar. Add Jamie Kent to that list. We’ve seen him rock out with The Options, but check out his new solo EP Embers & Ashes and you’ll hear a “rock folk” artist at work.

The project features clever turns of phrase such as “I may be broke, but I am not broken,” and “Don’t like the losing, but I don’t mind getting lost.”

Chronicles of adversity? Not exactly, but Kent is true to the EP’s title—all five songs deal with things unsettled that don’t always comfortably resolve. “Still a Dream” isn’t about busted visions, rather the inability to match dreams with waking reality and is sung with appropriately pained tones. “Bonfire” deals with passions that burn so hot they burst into flame, and comes with crashing cadences and kick-out-the-jams frantic energy. The content of “Prince of Pain” is self-explanatory and its arrangement is typical: start slow, punch it up a notch, find a groove, and let it rip.