We are revisiting some of our favourite records of 2023

As on 3D Country, Geese sound like they are having fun on their new EP. Moreover, they sound relaxed, too. They temper the scattershot energy that suffused 3D Country, though without ever dampening their adventurous, vivacious spirit. Singer Cameron Winter continues to yo-yo his voice up and down and adopt gruff, gravelly tones, but he leans more into supple, dulcet ones, frequently dropping his vocals to the valley of his range.

It's not just his voice that's slick. The title track encapsulates everything great about the EP. The soulful background harmonies that often accompany Winter on 3D Country are back. Jaunty piano lines abound. There are even blissful flourishes of harp.

“Jesse” is an exercise in dynamics. Winter drops his voice even further than on the title track but also pitches it higher. The song is spacious but filled with hefty chords. “I / Fought the law / I / Fought the man / Walk / On the sun,” Winter sings with grandiosity before declaring, “I / Believe in your power!” “Jesse” is histrionic to the point of comedy, yet with how outrageous the music is, his wild boasts never
detract from the song.

There is also plenty of beauty in 4D's simplest moments. “Killing My Borrowed Time,” the most conventional bop on the EP, is guaranteed to lift listeners up. And the yearning “Space Race” stands out for its burning impassioned vocals alone.

Compared to its full-length predecessor, 4D Country proves that less is more, and less can still be a hell of a lot. Geese have tightened their songcraft while including enough experimentation to remain intriguing. At the very least, and perhaps most crucially at this point of their career, Geese have shed all obvious comparisons to CBGBs era bands, exhausting comparisons that buried Geese's own merits when they landed on the scene with Projector.

Pre-order 4D Country by Geese HERE