The Serious EP

Bibio played with a wide range of moods and sounds on 2013's excellent Silver Wilkinson, but The Green EP dives deep into the mood created by Stephen Wilkinson's favorite from the album, "Dye the Water Green." A lovely example of the hazy folktronica that's defined much of Bibio's music, the track also offers a subtler version of that sound than on some of his releases with its aptly floating, flowing mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation and haunting vocal melody. Aside from "Carbon Wulf," an even murkier reworking of the interlude that follows "Dye the Water Green" on Silver Wilkinson, much of The Green EP consists of older, previously unreleased tracks that Wilkinson revisited and refreshed. "Dinghy," a collaboration with Letherette's Richard Roberts, delivers the quaintly lo-fi, damaged-tape vibe that is quintessentially Bibio; "Down to the Sound," on the other hand, obscures its crystalline keyboards and guitars with a thunderstorm. Of the previously unreleased tracks, the standout is "A Thousand Syllables," which, like "Dye the Water Green," takes its time unfolding its pastoral beauty. Together, these songs make the most of the dreamy, half-remembered sound at which Wilkinson excels. The Green EP isn't a release that surprises and demands attention the way that Ambivalence Avenue and parts of Silver Wilkinson did; instead, it seduces listeners into a reverie that's more cohesive and satisfying than the EP's patchwork nature might suggest.