The Prudish Few are rock music makers from Nashville, Tennessee — a band that has been described as "the corner of pub rock and art rock," "like power pop with 30% of the pop and none of the power," and "like college rock for people who didn't go to college." Their music is unpretentious but considered, built for toe-tapping and easy company, yet sturdy enough to hold up under closer inspection. Primary songwriter Todd Kemp has spent years honing a home-recording practice rooted in intimacy over fidelity, favoring the lived-in warmth of a captured moment over the polish of a professional studio. "There's something really beautiful," he says, "in hearing an idea absent interference from a force outside of an artist themself."

The new EP, Music to Talk Over, Vol. 1, is seventeen minutes of instrumental rock conceived in the spirit of a Baroque dance suite — six pieces that differ in feel and tone but belong unmistakably together, like movements in a program, or songs on a side of a record. Where Kemp's previous work (Carter Administration, Century Club, et al) was lyrically driven as a means of dealing with worldly anxiety, this record was carved out through different territory: music as refuge. Kemp’s recording process always began with the intention to provide a personal escape from the cacophony of modern life.

It’s an exercise in contrast where no two songs share the same approach. “The mantra was ‘don’t do anything the same way twice,’’ Kemp reflects, “and it applied to every aspect of making the music: composition, arrangement, recording process, etc.” Jay Leo Phillips tackled the job of creating a cohesive mix across these musical characters. Mike Shepherd designed the artwork; a nod to the idea that the party is already happening, The Prudish Few just showed up to join in. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find more than just a raucous good time.