Since the release of their eco-conscious 2008 album Everything In Nature, NYC bred, Phoenix based indie pop/rockers Broken Poets have stripped down to a duo for both live performances and recording. Founder and singer/songwriter and guitarist Tim McDonald plays his guitar with delays to cover the bass and drum parts, and classically trained Russian pianist, keyboardist and vocalist Lana Antropova has added "kick drum" to her repertoire.

Carrying on the seamless vibe and philosophy rich themes that once earned them critical raves as "soulful poetry turned into song, rock & roll and introspection all in one," Broken Poets release a compelling four song self titled EP as a prelude to a wildly ambitious multi-media project that employs Lana's skills as a visual artist and Tim's as a writer of prose. Its unique title is also the name of the fourth song on the EP, "For The Death of Dustin Essary." The other songs, "Singularity," "The Clairvoyant" and "My Selfish Altruism," develop themes and characters first introduced to Tim as a child by his friend Dustin Essary, who had dreams relating to each theme as he battled cancer from the ages of ten to thirteen. Tim began writing songs shortly after Dustin's passing and now, decades later, expresses his emotions and the lessons learned from this unique friendship in powerful musical ways. Tim and Lana's vision is enhanced by project co-producer and mixer Joe Myers, a long time artist friend of the two.

"These songs came out of the blue over the past few years," says Tim. "Dustin had these dreams before he died and I created fiction around the images he once told me, writing songs as part of larger chapters. One song is about a scientist, another about a clairvoyant and the third about a spiritual leader. The overriding theme ties in the idea that often when creative people come up with incredible ideas, we think they're crazy - only to realize later that they're not. Philosophically, Broken Poets is working on the idea that science, metaphysics and religion are linked somehow by an underlying universal energy. In our story, those three fields tap into that energy and there is a lot of crossover."

The EP's infectious, hypnotic opening track "Singularity" explores the debate of science vs. religion. As Tim sees it, "If the scientist was more mystical and had more faith, he'd be farther along as a scientist. If the religious person were more open minded towards science, he would see God in a whole new way." "The Clairvoyant" is about a metaphysically gifted person coming to terms with his/her responsibility as an artist in that unique and often misunderstood field. The oxymoronic title "My Selfish Altriusm" tackles the notion of hypocrisy in religion and in our everyday lives, where both spiritual leaders, and people in general, preach about love and honesty while living very differently away from the pulpit. It taps into the potential for good and bad in all of us. The Dustin song finds Tim coming to terms with life and death - an extension of Broken Poets' philosophy of everything in nature happening without interference and the way we can so easily get in its way. While scientific people look at life through a magnifying glass, Broken Poets' approach is that it's better to pull back and see things a little bit blurry.

1. Singularity
2. The Clairvoyant
3. My Selfish Altruism
4. For the Death of Dustin Essary

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 3/4/2011
Broken Poets lives in Arizona USA

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Rock

1. Music of Fernando Sor by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
2. A Lestampida by Dufay Collective: instrumental and vocal music from the Middle Ages and Reniassance
3. Brave New World by Sterling: sublime and ethereal electronic music
4. Cifras Selectas de Guitarra, Santiago de Murcia 1722 by Eduardo Figueroa and Oscar Ohlsen: Chilean baroque guitar duo
5. 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime by Steve Eulberg: smile-inducing, toe-tapping folkgrass
6. Cry Wolf by Ehren Starks: piano and cello/jazzy new age
7. Two Romantic Piano Trios by Women Composers by Streicher Trio: classical chamber music on period instruments
8. Scenes of Travel by Eleanor Hodgkinson: beautifully crafted individual playing
9. Switch On - Switch Off by Strojovna 07: techno.
10. The Time Is Now by Electric Frankenstein: high energy punk rock & roll
11. Burgundy Rhymes by Suchitra Lata: Swirling Chillout, Ambient, World, Progressive Pop, Indian classical veena and much more in between
12. Reminiscence by Emiel Stopler: Filmic composer and acoustic fingerstyle guitarist
13. Mobius Strip by Suchitra Lata: Swirling Chillout, Ambient, World, Progressive Pop, Indian classical veena and much more in between
14. The Stuff of Fairy Tales by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
15. The Vision Of Enoch by Sulis: heavenly, healing, early music
16. A Reason to Stay Up all Night by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
17. Sundowner by Sundowner: shape-shifting space rock sound of vast drifting guitar-scapes
18. Formantine by Emmalee Crane: ambient, orchestral drone music
19. Among the Lasses, songs of Robert Burns (1759-1796) by Susan Rode Morris: early music delivered with a voluptuous voice and intensely focused delivery
20. Smoke Through It by Endless Blue: Trashy Beats, Melancholy Keys, Sultry Vocals

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