The new Night Shift EP from Jenny Owen Youngs has become an unexpected addition to my best-of-the-year list. I say unexpected because I missed the preview singles this summer and if not for a mention by producer/songwriter Ethan Gruska (whose own collabs and work keep piquing interest around here), who knows if it would’ve gotten a spin amid my distracted state of late. Well, thank the gods of indie singer-songwriter goodness it did because this thing holds 5 cuts of moving, witty, haunting, intimate, gorgeous and all of those other favorite adjectives I would put before the word magic.
Love Youngs’ double-tracked vocals, Elliott Smith-level lines like, “Last thing I ever got from you was confirmation of the awful truth,” Marshall Vore’s drumming on “Vampire Weeknight” and “Living Room,” the arrangements, and what seem like chill moments on the surface that turn out to be toiling beautifully below with vibrant, unexpected twists.
We could all use a little bit of the unexpected, especially bits like this: