Ben Mastwyk & The Energy announce intimate covers EP with Melbourne launch show
The alt-country collective reimagine classics in an atmospheric fireside recording session with the release of The Miner’s Loft Sessions, a carefully crafted three-track EP from Ben Mastwyk & The Energy. The project, which brings together Mastwyk with accomplished artists Katie Brianna and Katie May, was recorded in an intimate Ballarat hideaway where the trio created a makeshift studio around an open fire.
Ben Mastwyk & The Energy – The Miner’s Loft Sessions
- Saturday December 14
- The Wesley Anne
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The EP showcases three distinctive reinterpretations of classic tracks, each transformed through the lens of the group’s cosmic country sensibilities. Their version of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Helplessly Hoping serves as a perfect vehicle for the trio’s three-part harmony formula, while Lana Del Rey’s Video Games is reimagined as a swirling country dreamscape. The final track, The Cars’ Drive, was captured at 3am by the firelight, lending a particularly haunting quality to this slowed-down, atmospheric rendition.
“The songs are imbued with our collective DNA and delicately tainted with the moody atmosphere of the old cabin,” the band explains in their press materials. The unique recording environment and the blend of traditional instruments with analog synthesisers has resulted in what they’re calling “languid downtempo country hallucinations.”
To celebrate the release, Ben Mastwyk & The Energy will perform a special launch show at Melbourne’s Wesley Anne on Saturday December 14. The evening promises to be particularly memorable with the addition of Dan Brodie on baby grand piano. Support comes from fellow country troubadours The Distant South, making this an essential night for fans of Melbourne’s alt-country scene.
The Miner’s Loft Sessions is available now via Bandcamp and benmastwyk.com. Tickets for the launch show are on sale through Oztix.
