Rival Summers - Blankets & Sheets (EP REVIEW)

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Rival Summers is the one-man acoustic project of singer/songwriter Leo Bautista and the act has began to build a nice buzz. He has performed with prominent musical acts. He is getting ready to head out on tour with Backseat Goodbye and Chase Coy.

Rival Summers’ new EP Blankets & Sheets was released on the year anniversary of his debut album Ready When You Are and the short two song EP almost serves as more of a digital single over an EP. The EP was produced & mixed by Chase Coy. Coy, who has a similar style of songwriting, does a good job at capturing the stripped-down acoustic/piano instrumentation. Production wise it is a nice step forward from the tracks I have heard from the previous album. The particular style on the EP is not groundbreaking and we have definitely heard it before. Luckily, for Bautista he does a good job at conquering the style and conveying his ideas well enough to set himself apart from the pack.

This short EP has a youthful vibe to it and is perfect for this time of year. It has a very laid-back sound. Lyrically it gets the job done and I think it gets the point of the music across and accomplishes what Bautista set out to accomplish. This EP is very much in the same vein of and for fans of artists like Dashboard Confessional, The Lyndsay Diaries, and Secondhand Serenade. I think the thing that piqued my interest about this release is the relatively young artist potential to continue on this particular songwriting path. I am interested in his ability to write a follow-up album to this EP that has some nice LP potential. I say check this one out if the above sounds interesting to you.