Earlier this year I reviewed In The Midnight Hour, the second album of Perennial, and I liked it. In fact, I liked it enough to check out their debut album The Symmetry Of Autumn Leaves. A debut that was nice, but pales in comparison with their sophomore record. If you ask me it missed focus in the song-writing and lacked in the production department, sounding slightly messy.
Perennial seems to think along the same lines. They enjoyed their work with producer Chris Teti and the challenges he set for them so much they decided to rework five songs from their debut into this EP. Normally I am not a big fan of rerecorded albums. There are some exceptions and this EP seems to be one of those.
The production on the EP is top-notch, which solves one of my complaints of the debut. There is a certain focus in their sound that this band needs. This focus also ups the energy a bit. Next to that, all the more artsy tracks are skipped, so the focus on this EP is on the high energy tracks. The high energy reminds of The Shitty Limits again, but taken through an artsy post-hardcore filter. It is a fun exercise to find the differences between the two versions of songs. Most notably some vocals have changed, but if you listen closely there is more to be found.
The biggest downside I notice is that this EP is over in seven and a half minutes. That is not a lot of music. It is enough though for those days where a single dose of coffee does not do the trick for you. Play this EP and you’ll be ready for the day. Trust me, I am talking from experience.
