Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Quick Hitters:: Angela Desveaux If Ever I Loved EP

Man. What a nice surprise. It's no secret we love Montreal based Angela Desveaux here on herohill. The Mighty Ship cracked our Top 20 last year and finding out she has a new 7" (with three additional downloads) fixing to come out is great news.

For those only familiar with Desveaux's latest work, If Ever I Loved will expose a much more traditional, East Coast sound. The songs - the b-side (Wedding Song) to the vinyl and the last of the additional downloadable tracks (Carolina Ways) appeared, albeit in different form, on her debut EP that used the same cover art - are laced in mandolin and fiddle and explore the classic theme of lost love.

As much as I love her last effort, the pure country feel and shimmering harmonies she introduces on You To Remind Me make it my favorite song she's ever recorded. There's not a bad song on the EP, but the biggest surprise on the record is the country-fried take on the Wing's classic Let Me Roll In. Stripping out the plucked bass and smoothing out some of the truncated guitar blasts, Desveaux and her band soften the song without sacrificing the emotion or the power of the chorus. The gentle shift in sound makes the song much more appealing, at least in my humble opinion.

If Ever I Loved is limited to 500 copies, so if you are they type of person that collects vinyl, I'd get to stepping. These won't last long and are a must-have.