Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains — American Names EP

The bad news for Death From Above 1979 fans: the singer's solo work sounds about as close to his previous duo's work as MSTRKRFT. The good news: it's much, much better. This EP previews two tracks from Grainger's fall debut full-length, and if "American Names" and "Ways To Come Home" are any indication, Grainger has a much brighter future ahead of him than anybody would have predicted after DFA 1979 collapsed. His new pop sound fuses Metric's electronic tendencies with Broken Social Scene's propensity to bottle up and explode. Grainger's immaculate vocals are at the forefront. They're far more tempered than they were in DFA 1979, but they're also a lot stronger. The third track, the ballad "Map Of The World," won't appear on the LP, but it's strong enough that it could. Combined with the solid electronic finale "Epilogue (Somewhere Over The Hobo)," American Names is a near-perfect teaser for what should be an epic reintroduction to one of the country's most promising songwriters.

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