Sunburt Jets mission statement for this EP is defiantly ambition. Within the short three tracks they jump from electronica to acoustic pop to film soundscaping; all in less than eleven minutes. This could be down to Colin Boylan making Sunburnt Jets a more democratic affair as it’s Sunburnt Jet’s first production with other collaborators. The genre jumping pays off in the end with a vast range considered but perhaps not completely suited to the short tracklisting of an EP.
Easing us into their ‘retreat // out of here // blood brick’ EP with some haunting electronica Sunburnt Jets are off to a great start on ‘Retreat’. Some nicely mixed stereo electronic pads pick up the pace with a beautifully light, floating guitar melody making things a bit more organic and gives the track a bit of heart than can be lacking from electronic music. “Amazed, to see everything come clear”, sums it up pretty well with the different elements all finding their place on the track. The scope of Boylan’s control over the sound is evident on the chorus with some very well controlled feedback that adds some chaos to conflict with the clean vocal.
Things get a bit more straightforward with ‘Out of Here’, a clean acoustic pop number with some nice duet vocals. It’s a very organic shift from the opener with piano, acoustic drums and acoustic guitar. If it wasn’t for Boylan’s distinct vocals one could be forgiven for thinking it was a different band but it’s the same one, only they seem to have thrown all their electronic gear out the window and gone straight to acoustic.
Sadly ‘Blood Brick’ is where this EP falls down. After the contrasting styles of the initial two tracks this one comes across as self indulgent. It’s a brooding, electronic soundscape that sounds better suited to the score of a film. Don’t get me wrong, it is good but when proceeded by the other tracks it seems a bit lost, especially when it comes in as the longest track on the record.
Overall it’s quite a strong effort with the groundwork for growth already there. As Boylan says in ‘Out of Here’, “You’ll come round and we’ll figure it out”, lets hope for the sake of all the talents involved here I really hope they do as with the space to explore their diverse sounds they’d defiantly thrive in an album setting.