Or, Recordings of the Middle East: Abridged. You see, this five-track EP is but a shrunken version of a longer debut album released some time ago. Queensland, Australia-based The Middle East broke up after their debut was unleashed upon the world, but this more modestly sized version of it heralds the band's return to existence. Listening to it, then, is a curious experience because we know that this is not the full story. Would we like the absent songs? Consider them superior or inferior to the ones we're actually presented with here? As ever, we can hear only what we are given, and whilst there are some intriguing sounds to be heard on what is left of Recordings of the Middle East, the songs don't always leave me quite desperate, exactly, to return the area in search of more.The most immediately relieving thing about the record as it stands is that it does not sound like a crippled album. Indeed, it sometimes comes across as alarmingly expansive for a mere EP, 'Lonely' being, at 7-odd minutes, perhaps the longest track I've seen on an EP. Such a work is reflective of its origins on an album, but not dominated by them. As it turns out, "Lonely" is a hushed, atmospheric but somewhat overlong plea for less materialistic, more love-based existence. The message has been delivered more eloquently and indeed coherently elsewhere, but the song is musically interesting at least because in its woozy, echoed guitar phrases, it reminds strongly of the early cavernous darkness of now-mocked Coldplay.Opener 'The Darkest Side' has a serious-sounding title, and for much of its length flirts with being a little po-faced, but manages to evade that fate partly by virtue of its delicate and intricate acoustic folk arrangement and partly due to one or two really curious lines which somewhat shatter the almost melodramatic mood. Take for example the line "but if you leave me I'll hide in a game like SimCity". Bizarre, and especially jarring because of the sometimes uncomfortable level of solemnity and seriousness much of this record exudes. Often, the best parts of this EP are the instrumental sections, especially the excellently cathartic climax of 'Blood'. This will be especially true for those not fond of the uniformly fey, hushed singing style here.As it exists today, Recordings of the Middle East is a intriguing but sometimes frustrating listen. So much attention is paid by this band to the creation of a dense atmosphere - when they succeed at this, as they often do, the result can approach spectacular. When they carelessly break the spell, then, the jarring feeling is all the greater.