Album Review: Eisley - Fire Kite EP

The ridiculously cute Texas band Eisley has been making music since co-singer Stacy Dupree was 8 and released their first EP when she was 14. Comprised of three sisters, a brother and a cousin, Eisley's early songs were sprinkled with fairy tale imagery and sugary sweet harmonies.

Now, Stacy's 21, Sherri Dupree's been married off to Say Anything's Max Bemis and big sister Chauntelle is engaged. What a difference a few years makes, not only personally, but professionally as well.

Working on a follow up to 2007's Combinations, Eisley has released Fire Kite, a 4 song EP, to whet fan's appetites for their forthcoming winter release.

Eisley - The Valley

Featuring two songs off their third album and two demos (or, if you buy it on Eisley's tour, you'll get one demo and Bemis's take on Eisley's tune Telescope Eyes), Fire Kite finds Eisley, for the most part, heading in a much darker, richer direction.

Opening track "Ambulance", featuring Stacy on lead vocals, is a sad story of love gone wrong (Reportedly written about her sister's divorce from New Found Glory's Chad Gilbert) that's fueled by Stacy's chilling vocals and one of the most interesting things about it is how strong those vocals have become over time. Stacy shines again on "The Valley" and although the dreamy lyrics are still here, they're no longer as whimsical as they once were. Instead, they've taken on a sense of maturity, with Stacy singing "I don't believe in magic."

The only real misstep here is Sherri Dupree's "192 Days", a saccharine love song that would sound more at home in a 1950's musical than paired up with the angsty songs featured here. It's a cute enough tune but with lyrics like "Take a photograph of you and me and our perfect, beautiful love", the song wears thin a good minute into it's four minute running time.

Eisley is currently touring with the aforementioned Say Anything and will be hitting The Vic this Friday.