At the end of the day, as a one-person shop, there just isn’t enough time for me to spotlight everything that catches my ear. A good example is singer-songwriter Dylan Bailey’s debut EP, Misty, a seven-track collection released in late September 2023. I grooved to it quite a bit throughout autumn; her grainy vocals are deep and calming, somewhat akin to the sea on an overcast day, while the songs—about love and longing, all—possess a seductive undertow. (One listen and you’re pulled in.) I intended to expound on how her constant craving mixes and matches moods and genres, bending folk into soul one moment and blending pop with trip-hop the next. But other artists and albums, including several I’d promised to cover, needed attention. Complicating matters all the more, I was in the midst of a “quiet” break and posting once a week. Writing takes time, and time kept on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.
I won’t make the mistake again. In the Hills (Live Sessions) is a four-track thing of wonder that features Bailey on acoustic guitar, Eli Koskoff on lead guitar, Jojo Faught on bass, and Sheldon Reed on drums. It’s the audio lifted from a series of live videos she released on YouTube last November and December, with the big plus to the audio-only version being that we can now take the songs with us.
Two tracks, “Midnight Pulse” and “Misty Clouds,” will be familiar to folks who enjoyed Misty, while the others—“Beneath the Moon” and “Fool in Love”—are either new or just new to me. By virtue of their live nature, the songs aren’t as lush as those on Misty, yet they remain enchanting enticements. In essence, the sound is folk-rock with, thanks to Bailey’s grainy vocals, a soulful quotient. “Beneath the Moon” is a good example.
I’m surprised that Misty didn’t get more attention last year; my Internet searches this morning returned few mentions. If you’re in the mood for something lush and lustrous, give it a listen. But be sure to make time for this stripped down, yet no less hypnotic EP, too. Both can be streamed via the usual suspects.
The track list:
The Old Grey Cat 
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