After 2005's "The Road Ahead" debut, the relative Canadian newcomer Codie Prevost decided to carry on tradition and resort back to the beloved art of EP. Releasing music at a faster rate now, these EP's allow this, and attempts to strengthen the quality of recording with this first "six pack."
It's hard to tell if the approach works. Prevost's Pop Country implements melody and chorus nicely, but both his songwriting and his delivery comes across softly. "Call Me When You Get There" is a clunky ballad about hoping somebody changes, long after you've changed your mind on them. Geographic images and predictable rhyme couplets hold the song back both in intensity and in craft. "One of Those Days" feels like potential licensing music for a credit card commercial, as campy songwriting more or less reverses the same Grammy-winning structure of Alanis Morrisette's 1995 "Ironic" and describes a day where everything seemed to be coming up Codie. Cute, yes. Long-lasting, doubtfully. Formulaic pop songs make Prevost's EP attempts more digital-single friendly perhaps, as these themes don't likely speak to traditional album-buying fans.
If Prevost is to be credited for something, it's his optimism and upbeat writing. Just as "One of Those Days" is a pick-me-up, "Good Living" has no complaining to do. Although his images and tangibility remain in question, any singer who can challenge convention and praise the life he's been given stands alone in the marketplace. Still, this EP of positivity fails to show the careful writing one might expect after a three-year-hiatus. As just as Prevost's opener suggests, the content is in the "Quicksand."
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