My Neighbor/My Creator

Less than a year after their acclaimed, dark triumph The Knot, Baltimore's Wye Oak offered My Neighbor / My Creator, a vibrant EP that brims with melody and creative detours over five new recordings. Collaborating with outside producers for the first time, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack's four new songs feel loose and direct, from the tumbling opener 'My Neighbor' to the propulsive 'Emmylou.' 'My Creator' and 'I Hope You Die' begin like ballads but soon reveal unexpected layers of saxophone and percussion over Wasner's cascading vocals. Chris and Mickey Freeland, brothers with ties to everything from Oxes' math-rock explorations to Baltimore's indie hip-hop scene, helmed the new EP's recordings in their own Beat Babies studio, and they bring new textures to Wye Oak's ever-expanding sound. There's a heavier reliance on keyboards, culminating in Mickey's own stunning remix of The Knot's 'That I Do' which must be heard to be believed.