By Jed Murphy
Dreamy, ponderous, and rich in texture, subtlety is the not-so-subtle name of the game this time around for northern Colorado folk artist Logan Farmer on his latest EP, ‘Butchers,’ released by Western Vinyl on May 23, 2025.
Zoomed out, ‘Butchers’ can feel like a dreary collection of folk songs, but at a closer look (and to no surprise to those familiar with Farmer’s work), we find something much more complex. At their heart, the five tracks on ‘Butchers’ stand on the transitions of folk: a singular voice and a guitar in a lament against some intangible sadness. Logan’s breathy sing-song voice – channeling Sujfan, reminiscent of Nick Drake – takes a walk through different moments in the genre and builds a stunning landscape while doing it.
It is in this landscape that Farmer steps into a modern era, using synth swells and trip hop drums to elevate the songs out of the past. It is in these places where Farmer expertly weaves together some surprisingly large sounds, yet still creating negative space. Songs like “Bloodeater” and the shanty “Monastery” both have what feels like an abundance of texture that could easily drown out Farmer’s whisper vocals and soft guitar, yet it remains tucked away.
Many artists struggle here, often stacking so many sounds on top of each other the original intent is lost. Farmer mostly avoids these pitfalls by keeping the EP grounded in his folk sound, and by doing so he has carved out a sound for himself.
As Farmer’s fourth release since 2021, ‘Butchers’ sits as a stop gap between albums, and what is made clear with this EP is Farmer has claimed a sound for himself that is both true to form and modern. And in a world full of dudes with guitars, it says a lot to find something that’s all your own.
