SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YOUNG THE GIANT – BOTH SIDES

Young The Giant
Both Sides
Awal/Jungle Youth Records

Just under a year after the initial debuts of what would become their multi-movement fifth studio album American Bollywood, So-Cal band Young the Giant has released the four-track follow-up EP Both Sides, a brisk and soulful (albeit bordering saccharine) collection of covers.

The EP functions more like an extended single for the track “The Walk Home” from American Bollywood and contains the previously released “acoustic” version of the song, a “Reflections” version (the band had similarly released a “Reflections” alternative of their 2018 single “Superposition” from Mirror Master) an acoustic rendition of their track “Dancing In The Rain”, and the eponymous cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”

The production work and performances from the band are laudable; the songs are supported by gorgeous string arrangements throughout, as well as some of the most heartfelt vocal performances we’ve heard from front man Sameer Gadhia. While the intended purpose is undoubtedly to keep the band trending on streaming services in promotion of their sweeping international tour, this collection of songs does prove something deeper about Young the Giant: the core “id” of their music can truly stand on its own, putting it in well-earned company with Joni Mitchell.

In lesser hands, it might have been presumptuous to add such a monumental pop standard to this experiment, let alone title the whole work after it. But the deft balance of expressions in the band’s performances is so masterfully executed, one might just find themselves forgiving the EP’s questionable existence in order to lose themselves in its intoxicating schmaltz.

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