Deer Scout is the recording project of Dena Miller from Philadelphia. Her new EP, customs, is four songs of soft bedroom folk. It’s the sort of release that holds enough plaintive and honest ruminations on love and loss to be at once sort of sad and strangely uplifting.
Opener ‘holy ghost’ is a gentle and heartfelt track about not abandoning a sense of wonder and belief in something bigger than yourself, even if you can’t follow the rigid rules/beliefs of organised religion. The song reminds us that there is enough to be found in small everyday things and people.
“holy ghost I barely recognize you
something that you changed about your face
I have a thought I want to run it by you
but it might be a sin to speculate
and I could find a new kind of devotion
I could know you by another name”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1552722512 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1055834159]
The remaining three tracks follow a similar introspective path. ‘little state’ sounds sad but also bright and clear and hopeful, backed by Steve Jagoda’s drums, while ‘up high’ is about looking up to someone (“I want you, wanna be you / can you teach me how to fix my bike?). Closer ‘train song’ is a gentle folk song about feelings and uncertainty.
“You’re pulling smoke into you lungs
talking about what it means to be young
to be the smoke inside your lungs
to be the words on the tip of your tongue”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1552722512 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=2191303660]
You can get customs on a name-your-price basis via the Deer Scout Bandcamp page, and join me in crossing your fingers in the hope that Deer Scout have further releases in the pipeline.