SIX by Thalia Zedek Band

2013 was a notable year for Thalia Zedek. She released her first album in five years, Via, which PopMatters called a “rumbling, sweet, muscled set of tunes, as resilient as they are beautiful,” which was followed by a tour across North America with Low. She also reunited with Come, the classic band she formed with Chris Brokaw in 1990, reissuing their classic debut Eleven:Eleven and playing their first shows in over a decade across the US and Europe. In October, following this intense flurry of activity, Thalia regrouped with her band in Boston to record an EP, harnessing the creative energy she had accumulated during her time on the road.

The resulting SIX opens with a full-band version of “Fell So Hard,” a characteristically mournful dirge that exudes a tenacious, slow-moving intensity. From there, Zedek explores the complexities of interpersonal relationships, employing some of the most sparse arrangements of her career. The spareness of tracks like “Julie Said” and “Afloat” achieve incredible emotional heft, letting Thalia’s lyrics, delivered in her unmistakable voice, take center stage. Alongside this new material is a cover of Freakwater’s “Flat Hand,” which was originally released on the Plum 7” box set in 2007.

Thalia Zedek has one of the most enduring and distinctive voices in modern rock music — a voice like no other — that can be heard in her work with some of the most groundbreaking underground bands, from Uzi and Live Skull to Come. Since 2001, Zedek has been making music under her own name, releasing a string of critically acclaimed albums.