The Blue EP: Vinyl EP

The songs on The Blue EP “share a similar conception but different births” to last year's LP Thank You For Today. If that’s to say there’s a thematic thread, the lead single should prep you for a collection filled with melancholic nostalgia. “Kids in ’99” finds frontman Ben Gibbard reflecting on a deadly gas pipeline explosion that occurred 20 years ago in the band’s hometown of Bellingham, Washington. One 18-year-old and two 10-year-old boys were killed in the incident, and the song juxtaposes that literal loss of innocence with a figurative one.