Lost and Dreaming (Independent)

How much enjoyment you’ll get from Lost and Dreaming is directly tied to your outlook on life. Still pissed at your dad for being AWOL every Sunday, and not terribly engaged the other six days of the week? If so, you’ll have trouble relating to “I’m Not the One”, in which Emberfield singer-guitarist Steve Marriott earnestly sings “My father told this to me—the future is yours to decide/I’m not going to draw you a map, but I’ll give you the tools to draw your own line/I’m not the one to make up your mind/Don’t spend your life like a dog at my side.”

“Shine” has the frontman urging us to make the most of the hands we’ve been dealt while also making sure to shine as bright as the lights in the sky. “Good Time”, meanwhile, suggests that the people you’ll meet while travelling are far more important than any sights you’ll see.

Such sincere granola-munching musings are delivered in a somewhat emotionless baritone, while Emberfield skilfully walks the line between modern folk and rootsy MOR. Misanthropes, haters, and lard-asses named Fat Mike be warned: this irony-free six song EP isn’t aimed at you or your kind.

Lost and Dreaming is at its best when the mike is commandeered by piano and ukulele player Nashlyn Lloyd in the country-lite rambler “Water”. The woman not only seems like she’s having fun, but also sounds like she just might find the whole idea of Birkenstocks and wheatgrass juice, not to mention Gabriola Island, completely ridiculous.