Many listeners will find the sound of this EP quite familiar since it does not vary greatly in tone from Lov’s work with Devics, her long-running partnership with Dustin O’Halloran. Devics is no longer a working entity, but O’Halloran guests on piano (and acoustic guitar and accordion) on the EP’s opener, “New York.”

The song, penned by Lov and O’Halloran, is a quiet reflection about a fleeting romance that Lov’s wispy vocals paint with a stark fragility. And that’s the name of the game here; The Young Eyes EP literally drips with melancholia and few do it better than Lov.

The singer’s sadness is palpable on originals “Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming” and “Why Can’t I Be?” but her take on the Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage” is so taut that you feel like moving out of the way because this girl’s going to explode. Lov does allow herself one lighthearted moment though with a bouncy version of Beck’s “Timebomb.”

Grade: B



The Young Eyes EP is currently available.