8/10

The demise of Spring King in November 2018 was a serious shock to all their fans and critics alike. Despite turning out a terrific sophomore album 'A Better Life' three months prior to the breakup, it felt as though the indie outfit had finally found their niche and were now ready to take on the world. But while the band's shape didn't survive, their creativity and musical intrigue is still going strong as two of the group's original members, Peter Darlington and James Green, form Meadow Meadow and look to bring something different to their usual guise on this sweeping debut EP.

While both sat quite comfortably in the indie-rock world, the directions of both Spring King and Meadow Meadow are starkly different. While the former took to big riffs and stadium anthems like a duck to water, 'Meadow Meadow' is a far more lo-fi affair, dabbling in a wide range of spectrums including dream-pop, psych-pop and indietronica on this debut collection. While it doesn't have the instant grab factor of some of their older band's material, their new venture is more about exploring the musical possibilities they have always wanted to try. Slipping into a realm of positive self-discovery that has resulted in a smooth and inviting offering with bags of potential to it.

It may have been born out the wreckage of their formative outfit, but Meadow Meadow have a sound that we can easily see going the distance for many years yet. There is something so bright and heavenly about some of these songs that the idea of this being a flash-in-the-pan project seems absurd, giving us plenty of hope for what the duo will be working on next.