SON TERRE: Spells & Spectres

A delightfully accessible four-song EP from Vista-based Son Terre is pure ear candy—yet coupled to thoughtful lyrics that makes this one of the more intriguing local releases so far this year.

This is his first studio EP (outside of a Christmas release), following a series of singles and a live EP (all available on Bandcamp).

The melodies, the arrangements, the production, the vocals are all so polished, so professional it has the feel of a major label release.

The stage name of Matt Gose (who also contributes reviews to Troubadour), Son Terre opens the EP with “Hollow Man (I’ve Got a Ghost)”—a sparkling bit of power pop every bit the equal of the best work of Four Eyes, the Modlins, or the Northstar Session (among the best power pop talent San Diego County has produced). The song has a hook a mile wide, a hypnotic fill on guitar, and a chorus you’ll be hard-pressed to resist singing along to.

But then he changes gears, direction and mood for the introspective, borderline somber “Shadow & Light” which features Son Terre’s evocative piano braced by strings undergirding his vocals.

“Handfasted” hews closer to folk – but complex, even complicated folk, with a huge streak of indie running through it.

The final track, “Metamorph (Breaking Out),” opens with an old-school country figure on acoustic guitar before slowly building the song into a straight-ahead rock, even sliding into hard rock at the end with a splendid solo on electric guitar. Built around another superb melodic theme, with a nicely layered arrangement giving the sound of a full band even though Gose plays every instrument here.

Son Terre packs a lot into these four songs – and not only does this EP stand on its own, it hopefully promises more to come.