Dead Diamond River

Coming nearly three years after their last album, the Dead Diamond River EP finds the Court & Spark deepening and expanding their sound. While the band never was exactly a hard-charging country-rock band, here they have stripped away any rough edges and bathed their sound in what sounds like a Olympic-sized pool of reverb and atmosphere. Even a simple acoustic guitar-pickin' ballad like "First Light at Avalon" has a smoothed-out feel that is unlike anything they have done previously. The question is does the new sound work for them, and the answer is yes. The addition of arrangements and texture have given them an emotional gravity they strove for before but had just missed. Maybe the epic layers of instruments make it seem like there is more at stake somehow. The centerpiece of the disc is the rollicking "Bar the Door, Davy," which features one of M.C. Taylor's best vocals. Overall he sounds more assured and less artlessly desperate. This EP is a huge step forward for the band. If you liked them before, you will really like them now, and if you never heard them before, this is where you should begin.