Laney Tripp grew up in the sleepy, surf-obsessed Florida enclave of New Smyrna Beach. In combining musing lyrics and folk-y songcraft with an inclination toward experimental soundscapes on previous releases, Tripp has hit on a kind of tropical-folk yin to the yang of Gulf-&-Western artists more often associated with songs that evoke saltwater gallivanting. Cedar Island Songs amplifies the strengths of 2021’s Fishing From Heaven, which Laney recorded with frequent collaborator, the multi-instrumentalist and multimedia artist Jacob Cummings. For the new collection, Tripp and Cummings tapped musician and producer Benny Yurco, working out the songs at the experimental wizard’s Burlington, Vermont studio. Joined by Michael Nau (Cotton Jones) and Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), the quintet tracked the EP live, working Tripp’s demos into a distinct brine. EP-opener “Lady Fish” establishes the collection’s colorway, applying a deep-azure base coat with smears of swirling synths and guitar. The EP’s standout track, “Cedar Island,” dives deep, introducing new ornamentation – washes of pedal steel, twinkly piano runs. Digital samples, decaying synth and subtle sax runs fill out the soundscape of closer “Movin’ On,” floating on a vast, sparkly sea of experimental folk. It took Tripp and co. a week in the landlocked New-England-state of Vermont to craft the coastline-evoking EP. But both sonically and lyrically, Cedar Island Songs contains a Pacific-Ocean’s-worth of multitudes.

Mike Viola, Laney Tripp

Mike Viola

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