E.P. Hall

The longing gothic folk of E.P. Hall begs to be heard on a chilly night. The Indianapolis duo’s full-length debut in 2009, Mommy Crow, is filled with fingerpicked guitar notes, soft bells and the pleading voice of bookish frontwoman Elise Percy. Her collaborator, Andy Goheen of experimental lo-fi outfit Sticky and the Bees, pairs understated electronic effects with Percy’s Beth Orton-like voice. The result is a simple, haunting sound that floats along goth’s wavering edge. It’s not dark or overwrought, though there are hints of Percy’s psych doctorate in the cryptic symbolism and winding narratives of her lyrics. Intimate and slightly eerie, E.P. Hall’s music hangs in the air like the smoke clouds of yesteryear.