This collection of seven new Aloha songs was conceived to be an end-of-the-calender-year pleasant surprise: a care package or a thank you note to fans and anyone who might be curious. But Aloha has a problem doing anything halfway, and the result is a set of Aloha’s most gorgeous, ambitious and fully-realized songs. Instead of saying thanks, Aloha is probably saying hello to a bunch of new listeners.

Each song is based on Tony’s acoustic guitars, but the world they inhabit is vintage Aloha: richly detailed, moody, intensely rhythmic and flowing with melody. It’s probably Aloha’s most inviting release, in spirit and in sound. Aloha multi-instrumentalist and studio wizard T.J. Lipple mixes in the studio magic while leaving the free-spirited vibe of the recording sessions intact (the EP’s closer, for example, is mainly a song written over an improvised piece). Piano, brass, oddly tuned guitars, drums, bass, mallet instruments and vintage keyboards fill out the arrangements.

MP3: Body Buzz

Also available on CD.