Matthew Dear is something of a Renaissance man. Not only is he the co-founder of Ghostly International and Spectral Sound, but he is a DJ, a producer, an experimental artist. Over the years, Dear's aliases and style have been comparably variable. A potential pitfall with the diverse ventures and rapid stylistic developments Dear characteristically makes is failing to realize when he's hit on something good. His new EP, Headcage, meanders away from the somber, eerie tone he cultivated on Black City. Dear could have stayed in that city a bit longer. 

The title track, "Headcage," was released in December and boded well for the impending EP. The beat rolls in, dark and elastic, punctuated by breathy hisses until Dear himself edges in. Reminiscent of Black City, his voice is low and aloof, at times tinged with droll creepiness. (Fever Ray utilizes this same strain of creepiness, which makes sense since this song was co-produced by her ofttimes collaborators Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid.) The synth is a bit of a throwback - think Depeche Mode or Soft Cell. Eventually the subtly smutty lyrics are obscured by reverb, the synth peters out, and the welcome semblances to Black City fall away.

"In the Middle (I Met You There)" is somewhat disorienting in its levity. It starts off with a syncopated refrain with a hip-hop feel. The early synth-pop riffs continue, and then the Drums' Jonny Pierce starts singing. While the tune is pleasantly breezy and skillfully layered, the lyrics are a disappointment. "The waves will keep on crashing in / sometimes we lose sometimes we win / you save me from myself again / baby I don't know how this will end." This may be suited for some tepid indie ballad, but Matthew Dear is generally more original. 

Tender and relatively ambient, "Street Song" has a delicate little melody. Dear sounds very dear and his croon is intriguingly bleary. The hazy sentimentality is lovely, but the song never fully unravels before fading into the final track.

"Around A Fountain" is similarly dreamy but texturally more interesting. Shuffling below is a soft drum line with brushy splashes, floating above are choral vocals. Fuzzy static tries to fill the emptiness. There are a couple troublingly distorted unhappy noises, and suddenly Dear interjects  a few low, broken lines. The weird plaintive noises become more and more askew, synthetic, and at odds with the angelic choral notes. Almost abruptly, it's all over. 

Headcage isn't an especially cohesive EP, but Dear succeeded in expanding his musical repertoire. The title track does retain the wonderful bleakness I'd been hoping for. The other songs are decidedly less emphatic and will perhaps appeal to a wider audience. Regardless, later this year Matthew Dear will release a full length album, Beam, which will certainly be worth a listen.