'Act One' EP by Everything We Do

Out today is their 'Act One' EP by Everything We Do.

As the title makes so clear, part of the purpose surely is to document this initial stage of their career since it contains two of their three single releases to date: "Every Night in Vegas" and "Eyes Off U". Missing only is their debut "Real Love, to Roommates": however since they describe this as a demo (and in all honesty I missed it at the time), one can see why it might fall into a slightly different category in their minds.

As is the vogue these days, their EP mixes tracks their fans already know in the form of these songs with the addition of new ones for value. In this case, we are introduced to "Need To Know" and "Interlude (as Long as You Love Me)".

Like much of Joe's solo work (and don't forget how many more recent tracks of his were co-writes with Kaity), the focus of attention is on romance and relationships yet in this very crowded arena, they are trying their best to elbow their collective way through the throng & try to both find new aspects uncovered by other writers & to express themselves in original ways.

"Every Night in Vegas", as my review hopefully explained, pulled this off with some aplomb & gave them a chance to stand apart. "Need To Know" also works well along those lines and would, as a song, be just as effective a single I think. Where I feel they've missed a trick though is in the title: it hasn't the power of the distinctiveness of its predecessor and it doesn't really signal how good the song inside is: you'll need my word until you play it, but for general streaming surfers, it could stand out a bit more.

"Interlude (as Long as You Love Me)" on the other hand does grab the immediate attention before even being played with its name and stands out too in its musicality. An achingly beautiful, simple piano led ballad, I can detect absolutely no other elements on the recording other than the one instrument & Kaity's voice. As a duo, maybe they've reached the point where they can risk one of them standing aside on a given track (though I can appreciate why this one, however much I like it, would not be a wise choice as a single this early in their career), but the other factor is that hitherto they have been working with a pool of talented musicians & offering a much fuller & lusher set of arrangements. Serving up this contrast is a bold & I think great idea: it has produced a splendid song (and the production is just as good despite the pared down lineup) and not only broadens what they have to offer, but strengthens the other arrangements by bringing us diversity instead of a formulaic homogeneity.

At the time of writing, the band will have literally just completed a national tour alongside Remember Monday so I can't offer you specific opportunities to catch them live just yet, but I'd be astounded if dates for 2025 didn't become publicised in due course.