Acoustic EP (2015): EP Review

4 years after the release of This Loud Morning Cook’s sophomore album, comes the release of Digital Vein. And like This Quiet Night, Cook released an acoustic EP to co-exist with the theatrical release of Digital Vein. The EP was available for download only through his pledge music campaign, appropriately named, “Acoustic EP”. I’m still trying to find out if this is the real name of the album, but so far I haven’t, so “Acoustic EP” it is. The EP begins with “Broken Windows”, and right off the bat the album sounds great. Like the original song, the verses sound very dark and the chorus, soaring. But here it works very well acoustically because it really showcases how well Cook can sing the hell out of the song. “Carry You” follows and I think is the stand out on the EP. On Digital Vein the song sounds quite dark, with a glimmer of hope, but here sounds very uplifting. It’s neat how when the right song is picked to strip down, it can take the song to a new level, and accentuate the different layers to the song. The third track in is the lead single off of Digital Vein, “Criminals”. Yet another great delivery from Cook acoustically. He continues to pick songs and create arrangements that work and sound great unlike This Quiet Night. The song doesn’t begin with the that horse-trot guitar strum like the theatrical version of the song, that makes its way into the song only halfway through the first verse and I thought I’d bring attention to that because it’s those little changes that I really like. And again the arrangement sets the stage to showcase Cook’s amazing vocals.

I was so happy when I saw “From Here To Zero” on the tracklist for an Acoustic EP. For most hard core Cook fans, we heard this song in 2012 at a show, either on YouTube or you had the privilege of being there for yourself, and the song was played for the first time acoustically there. But when the song showed up on the album, it was a more theatrical version with electric guitars and drums. And I surprisingly liked it more than I thought I would in comparison with the acoustic version. And when I listened to the song for the first time on this EP, I really liked it, but I think I do like the version on Digital Vein better, not to take anything away from this version. I really like the song here and am still pumped it made an appearance here because the song, along with the rest of the songs so far, is taken to a new level stripped down. “I’m Gonna Love You” was I think an obvious choice to put on the EP. It’s a romantic, love song. And is begging to be played acoustically, and for good reason. The song sounds really nice. There’s not much more to say, Cook has consistently picked songs and arrangements that work great. This song works on this EP. “Wicked Game” was one I wasn’t sure if it would work as well on acoustic because one thing I really thought the theatrical track did well was the use of the piano. It was very eerie and I think really worked with the song. But surprisingly it also works quite well on the acoustic guitar. The track is a “live performance”, but it sounds so clear it might as well be a studio version. I was very happy with how the album turned out. The stripped down nature of an acoustic EP actually sounds stripped down, unlike the very produced This Quiet Night. On here the songs were all just Cook and the guitar with the inclusion of other small instrumentation here and there. But no drums, pianos, it sounded like the acoustic demos could would have played into his iPhone. It was great to hear Cook play this intimate. One song I wish was included however is “Wait For Me”. This song, like “From Here To Zero” was played for the first few times acoustically, Cook and the guitar, and it sounded great and is one I would have loved to have heard on here. Check it out if you haven’t heard it yet. My favourite songs from favourite (1) to least favourite (6):

1. Carry You

2. Broken Windows

3. Criminals

4. I’m Gonna Love You

5. From Here To Zero

6. Wicked Game – (Live Acoustic Performance)