Balance and brevity

The first track finds Alan contemplating the paralysis that can come from fear of failure. “They bring you up just to put you down again,” he sings. “I play it safe by sitting still.”

Other songs, like “Stee Creek,” and “Tyrant,” find the singer exploring themes of love, attraction and relationships.

“We ain’t in the army, but she’ll tell you about the war. Machine guns in her lips, and all the boys on the floor,” he sings in “Tyrant.”

Alan’s rich baritone has a depth that, at first encounter, seems out of place. The fresh-faced singer has a voice that could easily belong to a grizzled performer three times his age. When Alan sings “Mud on your Alan fingers and blood on your brow, a gun in your pickup truck and drugs on the ground,” it evokes memories of the late Johnny Cash. Alan’s voice, however, lacks the signature raggedness of Cash’s voice. A closer analogue is perhaps Brad Roberts, lead singer of Crash Test Dummies. Led by Roberts’ distinctive bass-baritone voice, the folk/alternative band had a string of minor hits in the early ‘90s.

Alan turns to themes of nature throughout the EP. Raised in Northern Michigan, Alan seeks solace and comfort in the deep woods. In “The Game,” Alan sings, “I drove down the old lone pine, where ancient words speak like rhyme. And I got lost, but she brought me up again.”

In “Stee Creek,” Alan describes an almost mystical union with the creek.

“Hiding down by old Stee Creek, the waters down my soul,” he sings. “Blood runs blue and the river roars. It’s got me all stoned and dry.”

Alan lists Pinckney-based songwriter Chris Bathgate as one of his influences, and it is easy to see why. Both singers revels in ambiguity, crafting lyrical stories that are soaked in symbolism. Just when you think you have Alan pinned down, the next line throws you off the scent.

When executed well, this approach to songwriting creates a powerful connection to the listener. The enigmatic lyrics becomes a blank canvas that listeners project their own thoughts and feelings onto.

“Better Times” was recorded, mixed and mastered by James Grant at Chicken Little Studios in Mesick. The sparse EP features Alan singing and playing acoustic guitar, accompanied at times by light violin or keyboards. The bare-bones instrumentation of this EP may seem like an easy task for an engineer. On the contrary, the thin textures mean that there is nowhere to hide. There is no wall-of-sound to cover a poorly executed guitar part or a slightly out-oftune violin. On this EP, Grant does a commendable job of balancing the delicate elements. Alan’s voice is up-front in the mix and his guitar is resonant without being muddy. Violins and keyboards enter softly, adding a richness to the sound without drawing undue attention to themselves.

This six-song EP is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 22 minutes. Brevity is a virtue here, and I don’t mean that as a back-handed compliment. Too many singerwith-a-guitar releases go on for too long, boring the ears with a sameness of tone and timbre. “Better Times” makes the wise choice to leave the listener wanting more, rather than overstaying its welcome.

Nathan Alan’s “Better Times” is available at nathanalan.bandcamp.com.