Yearning to the point of bursting, that sensation of a long-building tension erupting in geyser fashion, pervades Dinner and a Suit’s latest EP, Stay. With crystalline production providing a showcase for the Nashville quartet’s confidence, the four songs here strike a balance between intimate connections and arena-ready anthems. Opener “Can’t Get Enough” starts with roiling feedback before the drums come in and glistening guitars surge forth and drop back. Midtempo verses with subtly layered effects in the background, it becomes energizing and unrelenting in the chorus. The refrain, finding Jonathan Capeci switching his vocals from a silken delivery to desperate belting, goes for the jugular, its hooks staying in your subconscious long after the song has ended.
Second track “Get You Back” slows things down and crafts the atmosphere of a late night spent in pensive reflection. Finger snaps, tumbling percussion that seems to come from the next room and sparse guitar lines give way in the refrain to Capeci testifying his devotion. This theme of desperate romanticism runs throughout the EP, and is hardly new territory in the indie pop-rock subgenre. As an extension, there’s not much lyrical insight you haven’t heard elsewhere, but Dinner and a Suit tackle their subject so convincingly and without a shred of insecurity, you go along for the ride. The U2-style closer “Everything That You Do”, for example, could have been cloying, but the group sells it with gusto, thanks to a cinematic build and well-earned climax. The immediate catchiness, lasting melodies, and deftness of all four songs’ presentation combine to make Stay a strikingly consistent EP that, perhaps due its conciseness, reins in the temptation to get overblown.