This short but impressive six-song, 22-minute EP, a follow-up to her 2010 album, shows singer/songwriter
Mize to be much more than just another aspiring young woman with a guitar. She plays all the instruments except drums, and co-produces with drummer
Kevin Ratterman. Look no further than the opening "Wishing Well," featuring only primitive percussion under her sweet yet insistent voice, to understand her slightly offbeat, experimental tendencies and how well she combines them with R&B impulses. From the jaunty, piano-fueled, churchy, gospel-styled "Going Under" to the forlorn, haunting, and eerie "Call Me Beautiful," whose title belies its dark undercurrent ("don't call me beautiful/you don't know how ugly I can be") and the garage punky "Keep It,"
Mize is difficult to pigeonhole. Clearly she's a driven artist whose strong melodies, mellifluous defiant voice, and edgy lyrics make her music jump out of the speakers regardless of the style. She never sounds terribly happy but her melancholy gives way to a few "f" bombs on the evocative yet driving "It Lingers," at five minutes the disc's longest and most intense performance. The closing, mostly instrumental "Back Around" is another moody, ghostly piece with a circular guitar riff that gradually increases in volume and passion. The song, as well as the majority of the EP, feels as if you're in a dream while the guitar drifts, floats, and hovers over
Mize's wordless vocals. Despite the brief playing time, this shows
Mize's ability to grow and expand musically from her much starker, stripped-down album, and whets one's appetite for what comes next. ~ Hal Horowitz