• Band / Artist : Ellen Cherry – mySpace
• Genre : Pop / Folk
• Sample Track Download : 1950: Inside the Music Box
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : iTunes
• Rating : 9 out of 10

It’s EP’s like this one from Ellen Cherry (pseudonym and musical brainchild of Baltimore based singer/songwriter/musician/recording engineer/producer/designer Kristin Putchinski), that make writing reviews a sheer pleasure. I received this EP from one of the many great PR companies I deal with and I knew within seconds of hearing the first track, that it was going to be reviewed. This is taken directly from the official website, “Ellen Cherry participated in a month-long songwriting challenge known as February Album Writing Month and wrote 5 new songs that she released on this EP, all centered around women in history during various years. A bonus track of ‘Buffalo Gals Don’t Worry About Fashion’ from the never released 1999 Ellen Cherry recording ‘Lips and bones and knees and elbows’ is included.” So that pretty much explains how this EP came to be.

The 6 tracks on the EP, are loosely connected in that they depict women at a particular time in history, from 1864 through to 1976. This actually sounds more grandiose than it actually is, but makes for a nice theme. The opening track is “1864: A Civil War Bride”, a mellow whimsy of a track, which reminds me a lot of Suzanne Vega, but a tad lighter. It’s very acoustic as is the whole EP and makes for great listening. “1893: A Girl at the World’s Fair”, reminds me a lot of a previously Indie Launchpad reviewed artist, Josh Woodward, who like Ellen has a real talent in being able to tell a story in music. “1912: Violet Swims, But the Ship Sinks” is a song which seemingly details the last moments of the Titanic. It’s a very tragic song, but it doesn’t wallow in sadness. The vocals on the chorus are particularly striking. “1933: To California” is probably my least favorite, but it is in such amazing company and is still a good song in it’s own right. I absolutely love “1950: Inside The Music Box”, a really bright, breezy and incredibly short track, at just under two minutes. The final track is “1976: Buffalo Gals Don’t Worry About Fashion”, with it’s slightly country twang, rounds the EP off very nicely.

This is a great EP, which is musically very simple, but all the better for it. It’s got shades of folk, country and pop, but manages to hold it all together effortlessly. I love music that goes for that recorded live approach, leaving the music to speak for itself.

Conclusion : This is an artists I am particularly excited about and am looking forward to reviewing more material in the near future.