The New EP from Planks Hits With A Welcoming Tone

A new EP release from Planks delivers a very warm set of tones that feel welcoming right from the get-go as the artist manages to bring together elements of Americana, folk, rock, pop, and more.

The Pilot EP comes through with a wonderful set of guitar tones and textures that come together, creating an outstanding atmosphere along with some storytelling that pulls you deeper into the songs.

Planks absolutely pulls from life experience and showcases plenty of personality and inner thought in his songs to the point where listening to these tracks feels like reading chapters of his life.

A perfect example of this is the first track on the release called "Hey Love", which most certainly comes from the heart and feels like it was influenced by that Southern-kissed Americana tonality and set of influences.

Layers of lush acoustic guitar, live percussion, and some overlapping guitar work that is electric but still has that same warmth and almost twang with a slide approach, and this adds to the sort of classic country or Americana aesthetic.

There's nothing like a guitar to give that southern tonality.

The artist's vocal approach is always just as warm as the tones of the instruments in the songs. He comes at you with heart, and this grabs your attention. He's got a bit of a robust vocal approach, but it's also subtle at the same time. He focuses on melody and comes through with great passion, letting you know that, again, the songs are coming from places that are authentic.

The following track is called "Mr. Well Informed", which takes a different approach in terms of music and lyrics. The music has a much more folk-rock feel to it. The guitars are a combination of acoustic and electric, and the entire time performing the chords, and you can feel a rise in energy on this track all around.

His vocals are brighter and louder, the drums hit harder, and this showcases that element of colorful songwriting that isn't afraid to get a little harder in tone.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is still very welcoming and inviting. The tone overall is still really warm and absolutely helps the story get told.

The title track, "Pilot", has a way of sticking to that style as well, but kind of combining both the rock and the folk in a different sense.

You have the upbeat approach, and the vocals have that same brightness, but it's all clean guitars and acoustics the entire time.

You're also getting great harmonies vocally and a very spirited feeling when you listen to it. The spirit of tracks like this is very infectious, and so you sort of take that with you after the song ends.

All in all, this was a beautiful track, and I feel like it was one of the best on the record because again, it combines several approaches throughout the EP in one shot.

The last track on the record, called "Things Happen At Night", gives you some great guitar riffs and approaches, letting you know that Southern influence is still there, but this one also gives off more pop sensibility than some of the others.

It's very danceable, addictive, and doesn't stray from that welcoming tone or aesthetic, but can give you more hooks and again, that thick pop overcoat that adds flavor to everything.

The energy in songs like this one is amazing. You just get pulled right into them.

Overall, this whole EP stood pretty tall. It was personal, bright, storytelling Southern-toned Americana influences with a folk-pop approach without leaving rock behind, so he was able to draw from so many great influences here and create his own thing doing so.

The EP delivers an outstanding aesthetic that sort of wraps itself around you

I would definitely listen to the full EP because that's the best way to go. Listening to a few of the songs is fine, always. But listening to the full EP gives you more of the spectrum of what it offers.

Again, these are stories, and some great, diverse songwriting approaches that come together and create an atmosphere that is all its own.

So, check this out and remember where you heard it first.

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