Transona 5: Going Away EP

Transona 5

Going Away EP (Drawing Room)

Leaving is perhaps the most profound thing a person can do. On their brand new Going Away EP, Denton's Transona 5 capture all the anxiety, pain, and optimism inherent in leaving a place and its people behind. The slow, cyclical bass line of the opening tune, "The Great Escape," is a mournful backdrop for a melody that lingers like a remembered taste or smell, a subtle trigger for reminiscence that makes moving ahead that much harder. There's a slight shuffle in the drums of "Texas," the EP's second track, but that only adds motion to the contemplation. The instrumentation here is spare, keyboards and strings building up the emotion of a passage or chorus or sustaining a shift in mood. Though the tone on Going Away progresses from a deliberate pace at the beginning to the janglier side of the Velvet Underground, even the cautious optimism of a new start gives way to the mourning of those left behind with the album's stunning closer, "Albany." Though the vocals are slightly more than a mumble, the fact that they're in such sharp relief makes them all the more powerful. The only drawback to the Gone Away EP is its brevity (27 minutes). This is one time you'll wish for a longer good-bye.