EP Review: Beth Thornley - Septagon

Beth Thornley has a knack for composing deceptively simple, soulful pop songs that cut to the quick with heartrending command. Maybe it’s a skill she’s honed over the years, having written for both television and film where the music often needs to encapsulate a specific scene; maybe she’s just innately gifted. Either way, Thornley illustrates this proficiency throughout the four-track EP Septagon (Stiff Hips Music). 

As a follow-up of sorts to her eclectic 2010 LP Wash U Clean, which was at turns wistful and rambunctious, this latest effort is more subdued by comparison, with subtler melodies and rich, immersive synth-pop textures betraying an unshakable sense of gravity in some moments and, in others, regret. From start to finish, though, it packs quite an emotional punch.