Lipstik

Check out this new EP, a collection of comfortable, down-tempo folk songs from Lipstik (New York songwriter Sam Jacobs).
There Is Only One Thing is three Jacobs tunes and a terrific slow-burn take on Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad."
He's got this sly vocal style that sounds like a half wink and really carries the songs. The mostly acoustic guitar-based EP fits in cello and piano without loading the songs down or tipping the balance from rough to shiny.
The tunes swell from simple to damn-near elegant at times, with that balanced instrumentation definitely one of the album's top charms.
The three originals are all strong, but the closer "There Is Nowhere To Run" is what grabs me the most. It's the most atmospheric of the tunes, somber and winter-sounding.
And "Yer So Bad" trades in Petty's hard electric charge for a weariness that sounds at times remorseful and at times resigned.
The Leonard Cohen comparisons aren't too far off, though Jacobs is more up front as both a singer and a songwriter, and the music is more fleshed out along the lines of alt-country stalwarts like the Scud Mountain Boys and Clem Snide.

DOWNLOAD:
Lipstik - There Is Only One Thing