Cinderpop
Cinnamon Winter (Nettwerk)

Ten years and three albums in, Cinderpop still hasn’t garnered much recognition, something that can probably be explained by the fact that the five-piece doesn’t offer much in the way of memorable choruses or showstopping hooks. Nevertheless, the band has a knack for honeyed baroque-pop arrangements, and this talent is on full display on Cinnamon Winter, a stopgap EP that compiles three tracks from last year’s A Lesson in Science (one of which has been rerecorded), plus two new songs.

The title track falls somewhere between the hushed reverence of Elliott Smith and the complexity of ’70s prog, breezy grooves giving way to disorienting arpeggio breakdowns and start-stop verses. It’s a pleasant tune, but it’s tough to imagine singing along to the sudden falsetto leaps of the refrain.

Still, despite the lack of radio-friendly hooks, the band’s haunting yet sugary sound means that Cinnamon Winter lives up to the chilly sweetness implied by the title. “Night Sounds” is a ghostly waltz, bells chiming in the background as singer Kevan Ellis croons about “breaking the cycle” with a quiet resignation that’s downright eerie. Best of all is “Boomerang”, which layers acoustic guitars with lush harmonies and synth swirls that sound as if they were pulled straight out of a Molly Ringwald movie. If Cinderpop could find a way to mix this atmosphere with a hummable chorus, perhaps the group would win a spot on more Vancouverites’ playlists.

Download This: “Boomerang”