By Nikole Meadows
Just looking at the cover of My Dear by the married duo The Castros will make you want a perfect late summer, early autumn day in your floral pattern dress, with ribbons in your hair (men included). This is a perfect EP for a sunny late summer or early fall day. Not only is she a musician, Sara Castro also did the artwork for the whimsical EP cover. After listening to the EP and seeing the detailed work put in, it more than exceeded my expectations. The energy of My Dear was reminiscent of A Fine Frenzy’s Bomb in a Birdcage album.
They start off My Dear with the incredibly upbeat fan favorite Pumpkin Pie (once it’s in your head, it will be there for the rest of your life)! While I expected to catch myself singing Pumpkin Pie loudly in the car (which I did), there were two other tracks that stood out to me. The track Tin Cans is quickly becoming my favorite. The song starts off sounding like Sara is singing into a tin can, and the chorus is filled out with harmonies from the duo. This isn’t something that happens too often with them but is a welcomed variation. When I talked with The Castros they said the song was written for a friend who had gotten engaged to his Danish girlfriend. The Castros also used their personal experience with long distance relationships for inspiration, which becomes most apparent in the part of the song that’s in Spanish, a nod to Marco’s Costa Rican roots.
Another track I enjoyed was Forgive Me. It’s a little darker and heavier than the rest of the EP, but just goes to show their versatility. Inspired by the movie Blue Like Jazz, this song is such an honest expression. It is hard to not feel moved by the lyrics. It starts with the sound of a thunderstorm. Then the soft yet powerful vocals accompanied by the wispy strings pull us along the verse into the chorus with the echoing drums reminding us the song started with a storm. It continues to build layer on top of layer then ends after the storm has past with birds singing. It’s a solid and fitting finish to this EP.
Columbus native Brian Skeel produced My Dear and did an excellent job communicating The Castros’ sound. It’s always interesting to experience the translation from live show to recorded song, and this EP nails it. With spot on harmonies and a variety of different musical arrangements, each song could stand on its own as a single, but will leave you thrilled they found their way together on this EP.
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