Review Summary: more than likely to evoke once again whatever feelings you had towards Frightened Rabbit’s previous work of lush, poignant songwriting and croons galore
It’s exceptionally revealing that Frightened Rabbit’s latest EP is titled as such. It isn’t simply a self-titled
Frightened Rabbit because it doesn’t define them as a band. More along the lines of an outline than a filled-in product, the trio is strikingly fragmentary. It doesn’t warrant its own name either, per se. Rather, FR got it right in calling it
A Frightened Rabbit EP. Without much to color itself in it, the EP does not take a very rigid shape. Instead, the tour record is sure to evoke whatever feelings you may have had towards previous FR albums. Stultified by the poppiness of
The Winter of Mixed Drinks? “F
uck This Place” may conjure up that reaction again. Still heartbroken over the wistful crooning of
The Midnight Organ Fight’s slower sections? Prepare to have fragile body parts torn apart yet again by “The Work.” The quirks and ridges of the record become more prominent seeing as the majority is territory that Frightened Rabbit have already pressed down and smoothed. One such quirk is the beautiful voice that accompanies Scott Hutchinson’s on “F
uck This Place.” It adds a previously unseen element into the already-lush folk/indie arrangements that enhances the songwriting. While
A Frightened Rabbit EP isn’t some sort of conglomeration that marks a change in FR’s approach, I don’t think anyone is asking it to do so. The heartwarming trio of tracks harkens to FR’s more complete work, a stable body in itself. While dependent on said work,
A Frightened Rabbit EP provides a lovable little intro before “The Work” fades into (assuming you’re listening to it in the same format as I) the magnificence that is “The Modern Leper.” As always, it’s utterly sincere and executed throughout with ease-- and even if comparatively insignificant, if other FR fans are anything like myself they would have already been eagerly searching out this work before scanning this last sentence.
