Jerad Colton Tomasino

One of the greatest selling points of the singer-songwriter genre is its inherent simplicity. After all, with only a guitar and a few stray harmonica riffs, how much fuckery can one get away with? Jerad Colton Tomasino’s latest release, White Hall, is a solid, unprocessed take of the singer-songwriter in a performance hall, armed only with voice and guitar. Tomasino (who also helms the sad-eyed indie band Everyday/Everynight) tackles several tropes on the EP, including a lyrically driven, 10-plus-minute song called “American Folk Psalms” — and succeeds. It’s an impressionistic homage to thousands of other folk songs that reside within the American acoustic tradition. (Circles, miracles, death, wandering souls: “American Folk Psalms” is decked out with the works.) Tomasino isn’t the strongest singer, but his tics add raw charm to the echoing warmth of the recording. Tomasino’s spare guitar lines and easy, worn-in song structures leave lots of room for his keenly sketched lyrics to bloom. “Two Kids” is a standout. Though a mundane story of childhood friends meeting, separating and reuniting, it shows an eye for detail that could mature into a razor-sharp narrative voice.