Doctors & Dealers
Trouble EP
(Bluesong Records)

“Trouble, you are my oldest friend / Can’t you come back to me again?” Sparrow sweetly croons on the title track of her Trouble EP, released under the creative moniker Doctors & Dealers. These lines display Sparrow’s playful invitation of invention and darkness. Listening to the EP is like a drunken dance through a speakeasy, filled with jazz and classic influence that’s just slightly skewed. Rather than hiring session musicians to fill in the gaps, Sparrow collaborated with Anders Lager and producer Gordon Raphael to bring to life the piano, guitar, strings, even tuba. Everything has a slightly spooky quality to it, fulfilling her goal to make an album “that sounded like Chicago, if it were directed by Tim Burton.” 

The final track of the four offered up on this EP, “Stubborn Liar,” ends with speedy “la da da”s and clapping, building up to a frenzied conclusion that dissipates like a dream. With a sample like this, it’s easy to get excited about her next offering, the spring release of the full LP, Every Sinner Has a Future.