Earlier this year, the emo revival group Prawn issued the stunning Kingfisher album. However, as excellent as it is, it was not quite what the band wanted, vision-wise. The New Jersey-based outfit actually recorded 12 songs for the record, but only wound up using 10 because of the limitations of putting songs onto a vinyl 12-inch. (I guess these guys or their label still think in the LP era, because tacking on two extra songs on the CD and digital release would be no problem.) Prawn and their record label thought, gee, we have these two extra songs we didn’t use, why not release them now?
And so the Settled EP has been born. The EP is being digitally released on Nov. 25, and then, on Record Store Day, a vinyl seven-inch of the two songs is being put out. And if that wasn’t enough, Kingfisher gets a deluxe digital re-release on 25 November as well, with all 12 songs put out in the album’s original intended running order.
It’s good that these songs are seeing the light of day, not only because they’re quite good – just as good as anything on the proper LP (can these guys do any wrong?) – but it offers a chance to revisit Kingfisher. Reviewers like me tend to get an album, listen to it a few times, pass judgment and move on to the next album – not getting much of an opportunity to go back and revisit stuff you’ve reviewed until you get into year-end list time. Thus, Settled was a welcome opportunity to go back to Kingfisher and remember what made the record so special. Namely, the top-notch songwriting.
However, as good as the songs (“Settled” and “Built For”) on Settled are, you can see why they got lopped off: they actually fall more into a Sebadoh-style of indie rock than anything on Kingfisher. Not that they would have too out of place on the album, but you can see why the band, faced with a choice, decided that those two would be the ones cut. Still, if you love Kingfisher and the songs “Absurd Walls” and “Thalassa”, in particular, then the Settled EP is a great end-of-the-year delicacy and all the more reason to love Prawn. This is not a fishy release in the least: these songs work together or alone, and make just as much of a fine EP as they do in the original album running order. Great stuff.