On Babehovenā€™s Bandcamp page, there is a collection of five demos (under the name Sleep) that could accurately be described as ā€œlo-fi.ā€ The note below the songs makes no bones about it: ā€œWritten and recorded... using GarageBand and a 2011 MacBook Pro microphone,ā€ 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.

Bonā€™s earworm melodies get the boost they deserve on Babehovenā€™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 Bonā€™s songs.

The EP is bookended by two upbeat numbers: The opening title track rides along a skittering rhythm, which nicely contrasts Bonā€™s overcast alto and her plainspoken lyrics about love, loss, and all the stuff in between. ā€œMaybe I should know better/Maybe Iā€™m dumb,ā€ she sings. ā€œI think I should know better/I think Iā€™m dumb.ā€ Later, however, she makes plans to move on by taking a nap and shopping online rather than dwelling on the relationship.

Closing the EP is ā€œFive Times,ā€ a jaunty, gentle shuffler that finds Bon repeating the phrase ā€œIā€™m flawedā€ one minute, and ā€œIā€™m strongā€ the next. The rhythmic work of Pia and Williamson is particularly potent, giving the tune the backbone it deserves.

In between are a trio of slower songs that showcase not only Bonā€™s melodic gift, but also her command of dynamics. The best in the bunch is the unhurried crescendo of ā€œOut of the Country,ā€ but ā€œBathtubā€ and ā€œLAā€ both start in one place and end far away, with lots of catharsis and confusion in between. Here, Babehoven sounds something like a cross between indie pop heroes Allo Darlinā€™ and heart-on-sleeve folkie Julien Baker. Thatā€™s a high compliment, but Sleep indicates Babehovenā€™s potential is sky-high.

Good Cheer Records