5to4
Tip It
(self-released)

The desperate piano and drums bounce on the opener and title track “Tip It,” setting us on our way to the new EP from the UK’s 5to4. Phil Goss leads the concoction here. He has an expressive, if limited, voice mining Radiohead, Ben Folds Five, and even a smidgen of Peter Gabriel in these three songs offered here. The first song flows around a bouncy piano, but there’s enough to the production, little percussion touches and Goss’s vocal delivery is dramatic enough, that the song doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and rolls us through a few movements. “It’s not That It’s Not” relies on a lighter touch, with Goss plinking the higher octaves of his piano and his nearly-talking vocals commenting on a relationship. An acoustic guitar and, once again, a creative drum beat/sound moves this lament. Midway through, things pick up in intensity with a different keys sound, then we are back to where we were with horn accents. Again, Goss doesn’t change things up so much as he knows where to place his dramatic moments, lets them breathe and then gets back to where he was. The funky “Walk” ends with high-end warbling, Herbie Hancock-like leading keys over flicking electric guitar, creating the best tune on Tip It. It continues with Goss leading on electric piano, then some synth as, yes, while it’s basically a blues jam, I do like to hear someone this obviously adept at tinkling the ivories have at it.

You can listen to the album here.