Aaron Wright & The Aprils – Behold The Pale Horse

Aaron Wright’s bound to get your attention, at least for a fleeting moment. With friends in high musical places, his debut EP, Behold A Pale Horse, immediately impresses with the guest list, moving beyond the crowded singer/songwriter market from the outset. The challenge before him, however, is whether the Scottish troubadour makes good on the namedropping of his own press.

This five-song, 16-minute introduction to Wright and his backing band, The Aprils, won’t fully alleviate such questions given its brevity. While highlights appear on the brief horizon, Behold A Pale Horse is strangely forgettable given its EP status – an unforgivable sin in today’s digital marketplace.

On the positive side, songs like ‘Takes One To Know One’ charms with its sweet, light-handed piano pop and Tracyanne Campbell’s (Camera Obscura) backing vocal. Additional string work, xylophone and slight horns round out the buoyant, playful tune. Also, the swanky and spirited opener ‘Origami Me’ draws interest from the beginning with a harmonica and bouncing piano leading the way.

Still there’s a surprising lack of depth to the entire package. ‘Origami Me’ becomes nearly cartoonish near its end and eventually loses steam. ‘Go On Yer Self’ pushes with a barroom power and musically stands out from the pack, but there’s a definitive punch lacking on the album’s most rounded-out arrangement. The barking dog at the beginning of ‘Every Dog’ steals a bit from the heart finally exposed on the album’s final acoustic track.

It’s that final number that leaves you wanting more (sans barking dog). Doing his best David Condos impression, Aaron Wright abandons the jangling toys and even his friends to sit down for a solid musical minute. It’s a smart move by both artist and producer (Teenage Fanclub’s Francis MacDonald). Unfortunately it’s not enough to say one way or the other whether Wright deserves the spotlight for more than that first glance. On that idea alone, the EP fails to serve its purpose.