Alli Rogers
2005
One Body
This song is obviously directed to God and faith. Therefore the lyrics don’t speak to me as much as many songs on “Always Eden” did, but there are still parts that I can project on my own life. And musically this song carries along nicely. I don’t often hear the drums in Alli’s songs, but on this song they are pretty present, but it actually helps the song. Gives it a steady, solid base.
Hard To Get
Even though this song also goes off in a spiritual direction, I actually don’t find it hard to find a secular counterpart. Projecting it on friendship, this song works beautifully too. Hard To Get is a good example of musical storytelling, as the music is very obviously accompanying the words, and Alli Rogers shows that she is very good at this.
Iowa
This is the non-religious song on the album, where Alli sings about her home state. If you replace Iowa with your own home ground, this song can have a strong meaning for you. Both lyrically & musically this song is the best on the EP, and I would actually nominate it for a radio single. It just has something catchy about it. “Back when home was a place/And I thought that growing up/Was a phase”. That exact lyric, I felt I knew. And the beautiful metaphors that are so fitting with the Iowa theme make this song excell even more.
Praise The Lamb
Praise The Lamb is pretty much a gospel-like song. I often do like the sound of gospel songs, but since I’m not very religious I don’t really connect to the lyrics. As an archaeologist it’s probably my inquisitive nature of finding out about the origins of mankind and such that made me see indiscrepancies in the stories and legends concerning pretty much any religion. Where the messages of religion are very true and admirable, and advertize virtues that modern-day society should think of now and then, religion itself has never really got a grip on me. But to get back to this song. The confession-like, vulnerable vocals & lyrics bring out the best of this song. It’s not entirely my cup of tea, but I do recognize it’s a strong song, and the piano supports it very well.
One Body [Acoustic Demo]
The acoustic version isn’t too different from the version the EP started out with. There’s not much more to say about the song than I already did. You can obviously hear this is the demo version. It’s a nice bonus and it’s kinda cool to hear the song in an earlier stage of development.
“One [EP]” is a nice treat to hold us over until the next album drops, and though it doesn’t really reach the level of satisfaction that “Always Eden” gave me, it still is something that was worth my money. Iowa is one of my favorite songs and appears on my playlist all the time. And Alli Rogers is someone who draws inspiration for her life and her music from religion a lot, and considering the honesty and pureness she puts in her music, it was to be expected for her to give us some of these songs on a record. And although I don’t usually venutre this way, I am glad I tried for this EP. Alli Rogers was one of my favorite female singer/songwriters, and she still is!