English Rock: Earlymay's Little Answers EP

One of the biblical metaphors used frequently in the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus Himself to describe the relationship between God and humans is that of groom and bride. Like the most powerful metaphors, it takes something common (a marriage) to help us understand something vastly more mysterious (our God and us). Yet, because the metaphor comes from daily life, there are constant reminders, touchpoints, that peak your curiosity—asking, “Is this how God is?”

Those touchpoints abound in the ethereally deep, post-Britrock tunes of Earlymay on their Little Answers EP. While “Shaping” could very well be about the evolution of self while in a relationship, the lines “This is gonna hurt a little/This is gonna sting/It’s like a piece of wood you whittle/You’re shaping,” could speak of God’s sanctification of His people, the process of making us more holy by trimming away the dead growth.

Yet, you have to allow the speaker to change for the drum-kicked bridge in order for this song to carry the metaphor through. Bradley Anderson sings on the bridge, “I’ll never let you down/I’ll never let you fall/Because we are breathing helium,” which needs to be the words of Christ who came down among us to lift us up.

While Earlymay might not have intended for these metaphors to carry the weight of the God/human relationship, the songs speak with such clarity at times, pictures and phrases that are loudly compelling the listener to see from where such grace and love comes.

For instance, the acoustic-led “Wonderful,” a pensive tune that progresses towards sweeping moves and urgent guitar, could be a well-timed Confession and Absolution song for a worship service—raging with doubt, self-deprecation, and guilt while seeing that this is all made wonderful by God’s forgiveness.

I am heartache,
I am terrible,
I am forgiven,
I am wonderful

Thanks to Early May and Mother West for the review copy.