The Fugitives: Find Me EP

As its name and five-song EP’s title suggest, these Canadian folkies/poets-with-instruments are preoccupied with hiding, both in one’s home and in plain sight. Sometimes Find Me is a cry for help, as front man Brendan McLeod parses his characters’ agonizing isolation on the snowbound “Breaking Promises” and “To the Man Found in His Apartment Seven Years After His Death”. Elsewhere, it’s an invitation, as on the dusty “Blue Belle Lament” and the sprightly title track — a tune that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Mekons record circa. Fear and Whiskey. Bisecting these two sets of tracks is a charming spoken-word piece, “Music”, led by Barbara Adler and her rounded Canadian vowels, about — among other things — realizing that music is where you find it, both within and without. An over reliance on spoken-word breaks in the other songs dings the band a point, but whether trapped at home or fueled by wanderlust, these five tracks are both a complete statement and a quick peek at the band’s ambitious concept record, slated for a March release.