On Babehoven’s Bandcamp page, there is a collection of five demos (under the name Sleep) that could accurately be described as “lo-fi.” The note below the songs makes no bones about it: “Written and recorded… using GarageBand and a 2011 MacBook Pro microphone,” it says.
However rough those five cuts may be, they accomplish the most important thing when it comes to assessing an indie pop artist: You can hear, clear as day, that songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Maya Bon knows her way around a beautiful melody. Several of them, actually.
Bon’s earworm melodies get the boost they deserve on Babehoven’s Sleep EP, released this week by Portland indie label Good Cheer Records. It features the same five songs, but updated with full band arrangements courtesy of bassist Skyler Pia and drummer Elias Williamson. Together, they provide a solid foundation for Bon’s songs.