'Flying Low EP' by Bell Jar

Bell Jar were the highlight of my one and only trip to the Greenbelt festival. As the band that rose from the ashes of Eden Burning, I had high hopes, and I wasn’t disappointed. The band had, by that point, released one album, and this, a follow-up EP, both of which I bought there and then.

This EP, then, acts as a taster for the album they were preparing at the time. It consists of four tracks, all of which are great. ‘Cage The Bird Up’ is a low-level anthem enhanced by a simple but effective brass section. ‘It Hurts’ is a downbeat but heartfelt song which shows demonstrates the key characteristics of a Paul Northup lyric – based on faith, but ambiguous enough to feel accessible without being preachy. ‘One Needle’ is a well constructed groove-based song with a muted lead trumpet line – the song least likely to have been recorded by Eden Burning. ‘The Longer The Better’ is a fitting close – bigger, more sprawling, and with just a hint of funk towards the end.

I imagine this is pretty rare – Bell Jar never hit the comparative heights Eden Burning managed, and I’m not sure whether or not they still exist – but it’s a little gem.