Yes

Laura Groves was expectedly active as an all-around collaborator during the two years that passed between Radio Red, her second album, and Yes, her self-produced fourth EP. She contributed to albums by intimates Sampha and Lucinda Chua, as well as Richard Russell, aka one-half of Sam Morton and the orchestrator of Everything Is Recorded, whose XL label issued Groves 2008 folk album as Blue Roses. Groves network also grew when she was sought by avant-techno producer Actress and later linked with Open Space (Paul "Apiento" Byrne and Sades Andrew Hale) for a brilliant 12" of downtempo street soul. Brevity and stylistic similarity notwithstanding, Yes is too substantial to be considered a postscript to Radio Red. Combining it with A Private Road, Groves third EP, would result in an LP nearly as entrancing as that album. Keen Groves followers might notice that two of these four adult contemporary art-pop ballads arent new compositions. A live solo performance of "Deep Blue," a rippling slow jam evoking romantic engulfment, was officially uploaded to YouTube back in 2022. Perhaps too intense for Radio Red, its one of Groves most riveting songs and the apex here. "Be There," recorded for a Daytrotter session in 2015, receives a refined update that makes the sense of yearning more palpable without overselling it. "Yes" and "Heavy Entertainment," the newer songs, respectively start and finish the EP by chasing the horizon ("Gotta keep the love alive") and basking in its glow ("Dont have to pretend anymore"). ~ Andy Kellman