Small Sur’s latest offering, Bare Black, is mood music at its best. This three-song EP transports the listener into a world occupied by lush drones, heartbreaking melodies, subtle hooks, and carefully crafted, minimalist arrangements. A classic foundation (guitar, bass, piano, and percussion) provides the music’s heartbeat, with sometimes unexpected swells of exquisite texture from banjo, pedal steel, alto saxophone, and cello. Delivered with the fragile sincerity of Nick Drake or Will Oldham, Keal’s tender, haunting vocals remain the centerpiece throughout—his lyrics as steadfast as ever in their evocation of Steinbeck’s realism, Whitman’s over-joyous transcendentalism, and Little Wings’ guru Kyle Field’s child-like wonder.