Iress’ music falls into the space where slowcore bleeds into doom metal. On their latest EP, SOLACE, they pull from both extremes like never before. The cumulative effect is a sound not terribly far off from Midwife’s recent work, a blanket of riffs that manage to sound both sludgy and wispy at once. “Blush” opens the EP on a heavy note, never once letting up despite the way Michelle Malley’s croons cut through and allow the song to retain a strong sense of melody; ender “Soft” pulls in the other direction, leaning into smoky dream pop, the only song on SOLACE that never erupts. For five minutes Malley’s impressionistic lyrics waft over twilit riffs, languorous and droning.

It’s the middle two cuts on the EP that best show off the band’s range—as a result, they’re the most immediate standouts. At less than two and a half full minutes, “Vanish” is the shortest non-intro track Iress has ever put out, but that’s all it needs to demonstrate the full range of the LA quartet’s capabilities. The track unspools over its runtime from a slowcore crawl to a bleak, almost suffocating climax, pounding drums and overdriven guitars bouncing ear to ear before it all cuts out suddenly. It’s a jarring moment—Iress at their best. Single “Ricochet” stitches soft dream pop verses against metallic, squealing choruses, building and building until even those feel like floors against the heights of the song’s punishing coda. These are the moments where SOLACE feels the most expansive. It’s that balance of light and dark, and it’s not unique to Iress, but few of their peers pull it off with the same weight. Grab SOLACE on Bandcamp and let it soundtrack your stormy summer nights. [Zac Djamoos]