Wild Sweet Orange: The Whale EP

Sparkling with the luster of seemingly unlimited potential, Birmingham, Alabama’s Wild Sweet Orange is a perfect five-for-five as far as delivering excellent songs on this recent EP. Weaving together elements of folk, country, indie and alternative rock, the band plays with an inimitable spirit and has a knack for writing melodies that possess beauty and heart. “Wrestle with God” opens the disc with an aggressive acoustic strum before transitioning into a unique brand of ramshackle, electrified country rock that highlights the spiritual struggle presented by vocalist Preston Lovinggood. “Land of No Return”, another of the album’s tracks, was featured early last year on the show Grey’s Anatomy but it is no slick, schmaltzy love song. A poignant ballad dealing with complex emotional statements, the song and its success suggests the band’s ability to maintain artistic ideals and still achieve recognition. Another especially excellent cut is closer “I’m Coming Home”, a tune reminiscent of Guster with a harder, more rough-hewn edge and a killer outro.