Hey There Delilah is an EP that really finds pop-rockers
Plain White T's expanding upon their 2005 full-length,
All That We Needed. Closing out that album was the acoustic balladry of "Hey There Delilah," and it's that song of longing that plainly serves as this release's anchor. The new version of the track starting things off is really the same as the original -- save for the addition of a lovely string arrangement -- and the closing live take packs in an entire
Dashboard Confessional gig's worth of audience involvement. The tender, sentimental nature of the song remains intact in both cases, however, making it easy to see why it's become one of the more popular songs from their last album. As for the new tracks, "Easy Way Out" employs some nice sporadic handclaps, though the driving (no pun intended) "Down the Road" is definitely one of the EP's highlights with its enthusiastic dreams of trading in a stale home life for the open road. "Losing Myself" and "If I Told You" prove to be a little disconcerting, not musically -- the former injects pleasant piano tinkering with layered vocal harmonies -- but in subject matter. Both songs exhibit romantic pains ("She used to say I was the love of her life/ Lately she ain't showing," "If I said I was leavin' would you still find a reason/ To ignore my every word") that are the polar opposites of the affections shared in the EP's title tracks. Assuming that vocalist
Tom Higgenson is talking about the same long-distance relationship, well, life on the road doesn't seem to have been that kind to his love life. And if that is the case, it's a little sad for the optimists of the world to see the once-apparent happy ending a lot further from actually being written for him. With this EP,
Plain White T's have gathered up a nice little release for their fans just in time for Warped. And hey, it could also serve well as the soundtrack to the starry eyed beginning and heartbroken end of a few summer romances. [The EP comes enhanced with three music videos for tracks from
All That We Needed]. ~ Corey Apar