ESP Summer Albums

What The Critics Say

Given the multitude of willfully, entertainingly obscure projects both Ian Masters and Warren Defever had explored individually, it seemed like manna from heaven when their collaborative project first started being talked about. Turns out the promise ended up fulfilled -- ESP Summer's one, self-titled project combines Masters' sweet, choirboy vocals, the key to all the early Pale Saints' best efforts, with his and Defever's way around minimal guitar pop with appropriately spiky, strange touches at points. There's very much a sense of carryover from Spoonfed Hybrid's efforts as well, a gentle, warm rural flavor as indicated by song titles like "Sticky Sun" and "Golden Heart of the Year." There's what sounds like banjo (perhaps) tracing a steady series of notes on each verse on "Great Eye Is Simple Eye" and a bit of slide/steel on "Last Time Hand," but mostly it's straight acoustic guitar, a bit of electric, and occasionally some great piano work throughout the album. At its simplest and most unaffected, ESP Summer sounds wonderfully, beautifully fragile -- "Web of Dream," Masters' singing and slight vocal overdubs accompanied only by acoustic guitar and some soft production treatments, comes across as less folk and more waltz-time art piece. Then there's the wordless but not vocal-less "Land of 102 Degrees," Masters' ever-wonderful voice floating above and around the haunting acoustic plucking and fingerpicking, a testimony not merely to the performance but the overall sound. The two musicians blend so well together that it's hard to say who specifically brought what to bear on the project. Defever likely gets the credit for the unexpected touches in the mix, often quite subtle compared to the more forward style he adopts as a producer and his own work (the feedback squalls on "On You" being a notable exception, though even they are fairly calm). ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide