As far as I can see, this is the second release from Melody Fields, a Swedish collective whose members also inhabit a number of other bands. The self-titled debut album has remained a favourite of mine in the two and a bit years since it was released (click here for the original review), and is one I particularly enjoy listening to on a sea or lake shore looking out over the water. It has a calming effect which I always enjoy, while at the same time being a collection of tracks which are far from passive in their intent.

I think that this new collection of four tracks will have the same effect on me, and is particularly welcome at the moment. For while I equate the Melody Fields sound with the summer… that moment when the chill of the evening just starts to be felt… there is also a plethora of warmth here to help me into the winter months….

The very start of the opening number ‘Långsam Död’ puts me in nostalgic mood, reminding me of two 1970s stalwarts in my memory bank, Jean Michel Jarre’s ‘Oxygene’ and Donna Summer/ Georgio Moroder’s ‘I Feel Love’… and while this sound quickly subsides the feeling remains as the sitar kicks in along the a most wonderful melody which takes the track to a high level of (technical term incoming) tuneage. This a just a lovely song which has helped to completely transform my mood this morning… I imagine it being like central heating for my soul for some months to come.

This segues into ‘Rhymes of Goodbye’, which basically keeps that feeling going. Like the debut album this EP is indebted to the psychedelic West Coast sixties sound without ever making Melody Fields sound like a tribute band. Again the melodies are just so lovely and smooth, but with a definite bite below them… it’s pop for sure, but it’s also mesmeric dark pop.

After that the title track doesn’t stray far from the route, but perhaps with a greater undercurrent of what you might say is shoegaze… certainly a more thick and fuzzy sound. Here the sitar is replaced by a more jangly guitar. There is still that pop sensibility here which makes the whole experience feel like your psyche is getting a nice deep lubrication, helping you to think more deeply and clearly after the experience.

The last of the four tracks on offer here, ‘Painted Sky’, is slower and more considered… there’s a country element with what sounds like a slide guitar… it’s like moving forward a few years into the music of such as Buffalo Springfield and America… but with that psych element to it which, here, adds a certain distance and mysteriousness to the sound.

This then is a lovely EP which is more that a worthy successor to the eponymously named album that preceded it. It is the sort of record which will instantly put you in a better mood without that ever feeling like a false state. That is because there is also a rich hue to this music that will sit with you all day, probably because of the melancholia that is woven through it… this makes it feel authentic and something that will bear many repeat listens.

’Broken Horse EP’ is released now on Sound Effect Records, and also available directly from the band here.

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