Amber Run have been on my radar for over a year now and I’m a fan of their first two albums, but let’s talk about their four track acoustic EP, because it’s some of their best work yet.

Joe Keogh, Tom Sperring, Will Jones and Henry Wyeth aka Amber Run have been teasing fans, releasing a track off the EP over a series of weeks, and every release they get better and better. The four track EP is split between two covers and two of their own songs, but are they worth a listen to?

Alaska – Maggie Rogers Cover

The track opens solely with the vocals of Joe Keogh and it does a great job of grabbing your attention straight away. It’s quite different from the original version – slower, with an Amber Run twist on it, haunting and raw. It shows off Keogh’s vocals perfectly, and the harmonies work so well. It’s worth listening to both versions side by side and seeing how the song can be crafted in two very different ways.

Fickle Game Acoustic

A track off their latest album For A Moment I Was Lost, released earlier this year, it’s a song that can give you goosebumps at the best of times, and this version is no different. If you want to know what they sound like live this is a pretty accurate version. I love the guitar solos and once again its hard to fault vocally, if you love the original version of this track you will not be disappointed with this.

No Answers Acoustic

The original version of this is pretty powerful, and while this is much more laid-back and slower it’s still got that feel about it. It’s such a well crafted song and because it is a little bit slower than the original you can really soak up the lyrics and vocals. The latter part of the song is quite haunting curtesy of Keogh’s vocals, the harmonies, piano and the way it builds up at the end really make this song something special. One of my favourite original tracks by the four piece.

 (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson Acoustic Cover

The original version of this song is very well known and such an upbeat song so I was really intrigued to see what they would do with this version, and I think it’s my favourite track off the acoustic EP. Very different from the original, they’ve once again put their own stamp on a popular song. It’s all about the vocals in this cover for me, and the piano in the background. Haunting is a word I use a lot to describe this band, but the emotion put into the vocals and the clever way of the occasional use of harmonies to exaggerate lyrics shows why. The last 3/4 of this cover is something special, my ears are grateful for it at the very least.

This acoustic EP was a nice surprise, and it really shows their creativity and unique sound which it seems they can stamp on anything. The only downside of this EP for me was that there were just four songs – I want more!