A young American trio with the scope of Sigur Ros and the peculiar, organic ethereality of Efterklang, with a touch of Animal Collective and Boards of Canada for good measure, Our Brother The Native are a very exciting proposition. Their last full-length "Make Amends, For We Are Merely Vessels" was a promising slab of post-rock, if a little too in thrall to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and other purveyors of ten-minute slow-burn epics but this 5-track EP is a far more succinct, subtle and to my mind beguiling effort.‘Augural Wraith' is a perfect introduction to their smorgasbord of low-key delights, beginning with a simple guitar strum and a plaintive, unadorned female vocal before adding Animal Collective-style sound manipulation and harmonies. Before long, it's starting to sound a touch like The Acorn and Mum at their most light-hearted- the ramshackle folk instrumentation, the handclaps, sleighbells and glockenspiel a mile away from the seriousness of previous works. ‘Seminal Paws' is a more haunting, studied experience, the clinking of bells underpinned by the chatter of children whilst slurring, chant-like vocals swell into a rush of accordion and sparkling percussion; the considered, tribal ‘Warm Refines' furrows a similar vein, featuring hypnotic drumming overlaid with a shrill Arabic female vocal that's a bit of an acquired taste. The luscious ‘Failed Panegyrics' is the highlight of the album, the omnipresent, dimly perceived chatter overlaid with a solemn piano line and an heavenly female vocal performed with a delicacy that breaks the heart, concluding with a  post-rock snare and flute crescendo that sounds like a march to a better place.It's a shame then that the title track, the closer to the EP, is relatively generic; a mellow, minor piece that washes over the listener without achieving the emotional impact of what went before it. But it does nothing to dull the sense of otherworldly wonder this all-too-brief gem imparts. One feels that the formula might have got slightly staid over a full-length album (a bit more tonal variety wouldn't have gone amiss), but as it stands ‘Parting Marrows' is 22 minutes of low-key bliss no discerning music fan should miss. 81%Our Brother The Native on MySpace