Medium Build – Marietta EP

Label: Slowplay/Island Records UK
Released: 15th November 2024

Medium Build’s ‘Marietta’ EP sees Nick Carpenter map his Georgia upbringing with a cartographer’s precision. Across five tracks, he navigates the intersections of sexuality, spirituality and Southern family values. 

‘Triple Marathon’ opens proceedings with a wash of gleaming guitars that The War On Drugs would trade their last reverb pedal for, though it never quite ignites. ‘John & Lydia’ marks a sharp upturn, with Carpenter flexing his considerable storytelling muscles.

The EP peaks with ‘Yoke’, where Julien Baker joins the congregation. Their voices weave together, creating something that feels less like a collaboration and more like a confessional booth conversation caught on tape.

Throughout ‘Marietta’, Carpenter proves himself a masterful musical mixologist, blending country twang and new wave sheen into something distinctly his own. What emerges is less a postcard from the past than a series of Polaroids, edges slightly faded but the images still sharp enough to sting.