by Brent

You gotta love independent music. You buy a cd from some starving, struggling musician…a cd virtually no one knows about, and it ends up being a more impassioned, intelligent, and higher quality work than most other cd’s you’ll buy from multi-million dollar labels this year. And, the kick is, the lonely musician will most likely continue to churn out musical gems in obscurity, due to the fickle nature of the music industry…

Pity. Because Jeremy Quillo‘s latest release, The Old and The New ep, is that cd that is smarter than most everything out there. And Jeremy Quillo remains an unknown entity in the music world.

Opening with a skillfully strummed acoustic guitar, The Old and The New immediately shatters the notion that music has to be slick and over-produced to sound good. Jeremy‘s voice passionately resounds, a cross between a young Bob Dylan, David Crowder, with just a slight hint of southern drawl. And while the music, mainly stripped down acoustic folk with percussion flairs from Jesse Eubanks sprinkled here and there, is exceptionally written and performed, the highlight of this release may be the lyrics. In “Circle Down”, Jeremy sings “My senses have dulled as far as my spirit has shown. And it’s because I’ve chartered my own streets of gold. Always. Would I go to Heaven just for the weather? Would I go to Hell just for the company?”. In fact, it hardly seems fair to write down only a portion of the lyrics of one song, because each track on this 8 song ep contains literary gems and thought-provoking words. The impressive combination of intelligent songwriting, intriguing lyrical imagery, and expressive singing that Jeremy puts forth on The Old and The New elevate this ep from an indie curiosity into a moving, living, breathing work of art that will be played time and again.

Simply Put, a wonderful ep from a rising talent that will touch you with its beautiful melodies and sharp lyrics.