RIYL: Sarah Records, Galaxie 500, Algebra Suicide, Mazzy Star, early Low. Black vinyl – edition of 500. Cindy is to release a new six song EP called Swan Lake on 4th October via Tough Love. The title isnt a nod to the folktale or ballet in any real way, but to the fact that it all has ended up in the collective imagination as an object, vaguely recognizable, a little suggestive, and mostly blank. Karina Gill, Cindys songwriter, likes to make use of that kind of resonance to connect sound and experience.

The six songs on this EP continue the stripped-down habits of previous Cindy releases, while adding a few departures and left-turns. Cindy likes to work at the essentials and the elements here say exactly whats needed. In other ways, these songs present a soft filigree thats unusual for their recordings. Oli Lipton (Now, Violent Change) on guitar and Will Smith (Now) on bass play counterpoint melodies to Gills structures. Staizsh Rodrigues (Children Maybe Later, Almond Joy, Peace Frog) sings vocal harmonies that both offset and deepen Gills voice and delivery.

There are playful drums by Mike Ramos (Tony Jay, Sad Eyed Beatniks) and coolly elaborate guitar lines from Stanley Martinez (Famous Mammals, Violent Change, Non Plus Temps). Gills songs strike this balance too: almost nonchalant reporting tied up in unexpected knots. A ride in an elevator connects up with questions about peace and/or the nature of things; the title track wonders about associative thinking and associative feeling; The Bell is an account of one of those times when everything makes sense but you cant explain it; and theres the scene of a party viewed with admiration for how friends can love each other.

As Gill herself says: “People have told me that they cant quite identify my influences. Me neither. The foundational layers of music of the past and my past have been metabolized like breakfast and turned into more me, sorry to say. But I experience the music of people Im connected with and it impacts me in the moment. Theres the music Im around April Magazine, Sad Eyed Beatniks, Violent Change, Katsy Pline, collaborating with Mike on Flowertown that I can feel a direct line from. Then theres music that is being made far away but feels close, like Lewsberg, specifically, for this EP. “