Jesse Crowe will release a new EP as Praises, titled EP4.

Crowe is a Toronto-based producer and vocalist signed to Hand Drawn Dracula. The Praises project emerged at a time when Crowe was struggling to find an outlet to release their inner conversations. Dark and theatrical, Praises’ influences move through the hum of Rachel Goswell’s murky shoegaze and the art-gloom of Beth Gibbons’ sultry jazz. They’ve since put out three EPs and a debut album, In This Year: Ten of Swords, in 2018.

On EP4, Crowe pushes beyond their recent industrial synth-based offerings into an intimate and collaborative songwriting process. EP4 was composed as a combination of two songs that never felt like they had a home until they were met with two new tracks formed in collaboration with Shortbloom, real name Sachin Mohindra.

In what Crowe describes as a “gruelling time of human reckoning,” the songs grew slowly and reflective. We’re told that one is about the quieter moments of love in the storm of 2020 (“Apples For My Love”), one is a vicious anti-Trump declaration (“We Let Go”), one is a call of protest (“Soil”), and the closer, “A World On Fire,” is about war.

The tracks were mixed by Josh Korody at Toronto’s Candle Studio and mastered by Heather Kirby at Dreamlands.

Praises has nearly completed their sophomore album, In This Year: Hierophant, to be announced soon.

Tracklisting

01. Apples For My Love
02. We Let Go
03. Soil
04. A World On Fire

EP4 will land on August 5. Meanwhile, you can stream “A World On Fire” in full below and pre-order here.